Breaking Point
by AngelaFaye
Summary: Malcolm and Dani are held captive by a serial killer the team is investigating.
1. Chapter 1

"I CAN OVERCOME ANY OBSTACLE WITH PATIENCE AND POSITIVITY"

The Daily Affirmation card faded in and out of focus in Malcolm's mind, alongside his consciousness. The flashing images that appeared behind his eyes didn't seem to have any semblance of order, but Malcolm was smart enough to know that there was, without a doubt, meaning to them. He tried to make sense of what he was being shown as each of his senses began returning in a sluggish succession.

Sound, while still resembling life underwater, was the first to recover. A voice. No voices? Plural. Angry?

_Focus, Bright._ Malcolm strained to try and clarify what was being said, to no avail. Sight was next to return. What little light existed caused Malcolm to flinch and turn his head away. That small movement brought a flash of white light behind his eyelids and throbbing pain. He squinted his eyes and winced. _Head trauma. That's always promising._

Something wasn't right. Why did he feel heavy? Malcolm lifted his hands to rub his eyes. As he did so, the clinking and weight of the chains answered his question. He looked down at his wrists. _Manacles? Sure._ While a tiny part of him appreciated the classics, the rest of him was well aware that manacles, at least where the wrist were bound, were a much bigger challenge to escape than handcuffs. Malcolm was unsure if having the self-inflicted-metacarpal-fracture option removed was a positive or negative. His mind was racing grasping for anything he could remember that lead him to this point. The case. Gil yelling at him. The club…

"I think our hero has rejoined us."

The light from a single bare bulb, positioned slightly off center of the room on a thick beam, failed to actually reach the walls on any side. For the first time since he had awoken, Malcolm investigated his surroundings. The room was close to square-shaped, probably 25 feet from one side to the other. The walls were peeling in numerous places, revealing the cinderblock beneath. The cold concrete floor had small chunks missing here and there, while a single, sizable crack ran along almost the whole length of the room. The manacles on his wrist were connected to thick-linked chains that looked to be a little over two feet long and were anchored into the floor. Only now did Malcolm notice that much of the cuffs on his wrist, as well as a portion of the links connecting him to the floor, were tinted a dark rust brown.

_Dried blood_, he thought. _Also promising._ Again Malcolm tried to retrace the events that brought him here. More flashes of memory appeared:

The case.

The club.

Trying to hear Gil on his cell while the bass of the music pulsed so loud it vibrated his torso.

The drunk girl who threw up on Dani's shoes.

Dani's exasperated sigh as she headed to the restroom to try and clean up.

She should be back by now.

Checking the restroom.

Dani?

Empty.

Yelling.

Dani?!

Frantic.

DANI?!

"Dani?" Malcolm whispered. Everything came back to him in a tidal wave of panic.

"Welcome back. I was starting to think that I hit you a little too hard. Or maybe the nightcap was too strong?"

"Where is she?" Malcolm demanded.

The man that crossed the room to stand in front of Malcolm fit the profile right down to the size 12 work boots he was wearing. The bare lightbulb created a silhouette and made it difficult to make out any distinctive features, however. Meeting the killer was usually one of Malcolm's favorite parts of his job. Comparing his profile to reality was the most compelling aspect of profiling. Did he interpret the clues correctly? What had he missed? But now, knowing what this particular killer does to his victims, none of that mattered. All that mattered was Dani.

"Where's Dani?" Malcolm asked, his voice louder this time. He raised himself up onto his knees trying to get a better look at the man's face. "Tell me where she is!" He lunged forward until the chains abruptly stopped him in his track. In truth the act wasn't so much about actual aggression as it was testing the strength of his imprisonment. Unfortunately it seemed remarkably sturdy. Given the killer's body count that wasn't incredibly shocking.

The man crouched down so his face was only about a foot away from Malcolm's. "Try all you want. Those chains have held many a man before you. And they'll hold many a man after," then he smiled as he returned to a standing position and crossed his arms. "Save your strength, Malcolm. You're going to need it."

"You know my name," it wasn't a question. "Okay. So you knew we found your hunting ground. That we were at the club to bait you."

"Of course I did. You think I would have lasted this long if I was too stupid to notice a set up?"

_He wants praise_. "No. Absolutely not. You wouldn't have been able to evade the police the way you have if you weren't intelligent." _Stroke the ego. _"I'm curious as to how you knew we were there tonight. Last night? How long was I out?" _Get information._

"Long enough. It's Saturday."

_That's not helpful._ It was a little after midnight when he went looking for Dani to begin with.

"You know my name. What should I call you?"

The man just stared at Malcolm shifting his weight from one leg to another. Thinking. Then suddenly he let out a low chuckle, unfolded his arms, and said, "Nathan. You can call me Nathan." He turned as though he intended to walk away, "Yes that's my real name, Malcolm. Not that it matters. You and I both know what's about to happen to the two of you. I'm not too concerned about you telling anyone." Then he turned to the left and started walking toward the door.

As Nathan moved out of his direct line of sight, Malcolm saw what his captor had been deliberately blocking all along. On the opposite side of the room, hidden on the outskirts of the light's edge, unconscious, and similarly chained, was Dani.

"DANI!" Malcolm yelled despite himself. If she was conscious she would have answered him long before now. He only partially registered Nathan's exit from the room. Although he did manage to catch the three additional clicks after the doors original latch. _Extra locks._

Not the priority at this moment. Dani was the priority. She was partially cloaked by shadow and it was hard to see much of her. He lowered his voice to a normal decibel and tried again, "Dani? Wake up." He paused and listened for a moment. Nothing. Malcolm tried standing up, which he couldn't do completely thanks to the length of the chains. Hunched over, he tested to see just how far around the room he could reach. It wasn't much. Nathan was indeed very skilled at his craft.

Malcolm continued inspecting the room. He and Dani were in opposite corners. To his left, naturally out of his range, was the door out. There were no windows. That, paired with the cinderblock walls, the open beams, and the profile in general, denoted that they were definitely underground somewhere. To his right there was a sizable wooden table that sat out from the wall enough to allow a person access to all sides. Under the table was a shelf containing supplies of some sort. Malcolm couldn't tell what they were seeing as how they were covered by a sheet.

There wasn't much to work with in terms of escape. He knew he was going to have to pull something spectacular out of thin air. The lack of windows hurt. A lot. The three additional locks on the other side of the only door out was practically damning. _The only way we get out of here is by overpowering him once he's opened the door and in the room. Overpowering him requires at least one of us not being restrained. Both would be ideal. That's unlikely to happen._ Malcolm sat down, leaned against the wall, and continued running through every possible escape scenario he could fathom. His eyes instinctively looked to his wrist to check the time. With his watch removed and no windows, it was going to be practically impossible to tell how long they had been there. He would have to fish that information out of Nathan.

At some point the scenarios ceased and Malcolm ended up in the hazy realm between sleep and wakefulness while still sitting up. He had almost crossed the threshold into actual sleep when a sound jolted him back to reality. Chains clinking. He scrambled quickly to get as close to her side of the room as his restrictions permitted. On his knees again, leaning as far forward as he could he called to her, "Dani? It's me, Malcolm. Dani, can you hear me?"

Dani answered with a mixture of a groan and a mumble. He could only see her left arm and leg the way she was laying. They were moving, however slowly. Malcolm imagined she was coming to all the same slow realizations he had just a short while ago.

"Take it easy. No quick movements. Believe me it's better that way," he tried to help the situation in any way he possibly could, before she fully understood what it all meant.

"Malcolm?" Dani slowly pushed herself up into a seated position. She immediately noticed her shackled wrists and began searching the partially-lit room for his face.

"It's ok. It's ok. Hey, look at me. Dani. It's gonna be ok." Malcolm felt as though he masked his own fear quite well and even sounded believable.

Dani paused, "What happened? Where are we?" She jerked and pulled at the chains uselessly.

"So about that. Um… do you want the good news or the bad news?" Typically in situations like this he would provide the inappropriately-timed-but-usually-appreciated humor. It was difficult given the severity of their situation, but Malcolm knew she would be expecting it. Even if it annoyed her, it would be normal, Malcolm as usual and thus, nothing to be alarmed about. If it was normal then it couldn't be terrifying. He put on a brave face. For her.

"Bright, what could possibly be good news?!" She sounded annoyed. Good. All part of the plan.

"The good news is we've located the killer," Malcolm flashed the cheesiest smile he could muster. "Our hard work paid off, the profile was spot on. and we have located and begun investigation on the crime scene."

Dani raised her arms, showcasing the manacles binding her wrists, "And the bad news?"

Malcolm laughed nervously, "Yeah, so that. We've managed to locate the crime scene thanks in part to some assistance provided by a man named Nathan."

"And Nathan is…"

"Well, he's the killer"

"Of course he is. Wait, the killer's name is Nathan? He just told you that? Do you think he's telling the truth?" Dani seemed to be taking this news incredibly well.

"I'm honestly surprised he even told me his first name. But he said that he wasn't concerned about me being able to tell any-" Malcolm caught himself too late. The rest of his sentence hung in the air between them like a dense fog.

"... to tell anyone what his name is," she finished.

"Yes."

A long and heavy silence passed. Neither of them looked at one another. Neither of them knew what to say. After what seemed like forever, Dani broke the quiet. Her voice was low, barely loud enough for him to hear her across the room, "Malcolm?"

"Yeah?"

"We know what he does to his victims," she swallowed, seemingly trying to find her voice again.

He lowered his head. He wasn't sure he'd be able to keep up his facade if he was looking her in the eye, "We do."

"He's going to do that… to us," there wasn't a question attached to the phrase. Just a statement of fact. The fear in Dani's voice was palpable.

Malcolm snapped his head up and leaned even further forward. His wrists were aching already, "Hey. Hey! Look at me," Dani refused to meet his eyes. "Dani Powell, look at me," he hissed. She reluctantly lifted her head just enough to meet his gaze. "We are not going to let that happen. Got it? Not happening. You understand me?"

Dani haphazardly nodded her head once in faux-agreement. Malcolm didn't say anything else. He knew exactly what she was thinking because it was the same thing going through his own head. All the photos and reports they'd analyzed over the past two weeks were now a slide show of mockery for them both to play on repeat incessantly in their minds.

Malcom shook the visions away. _Not happening. End of story. _He just had to figure out a way. No other option. Simple as that.

Malcolm knew he had to come up with something quickly. They were both running out of time.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I WILL FACE ANY HARDSHIP WITH STEADFAST RESOLVE TO EMERGE BETTER FOR THE EXPERIENCE

Malcolm wasn't sure how long Nathan had left them alone. It had to be at least a few hours. He had nodded off a few times, never truly falling asleep. Dani was quiet. He could just make out her shadowed outline if he stared long enough. The only noise that came from her direction was the occasional clinking of her chains as she shifted. Waiting was a torture in itself. It didn't help that every escape scenario Malcolm ran through in his head was either a failure or so unrealistic it was almost laughable. He leaned his head back against the clammy wall and stared at the support beams above him. There was a spider scurrying its way across one of the pieces of wood. Malcolm watched it absent-mindledly until his daze was broken by the sound of the locks being turned on the door.

Malcolm's entire body was alert as he sat up in an attempt to not look tired. Dani folded her legs up in front of her and rested her arms on top of them. Nathan entered the room in a similar outfit to what he had worn the last time they had seen him. A long-sleeved shirt, carpenter jeans, and work boots. In his hands he held two plates. He crossed the room to Dani first and sat the paper plate down in front of her. Then he brought Malcolm his. Next to be served was half a cup of water, also in a paper cup.

_Paper. Smart_. Malcolm thought. That blew a few of his escape theories out of the water.

Nathan headed back to the door, turned abruptly and said, "you have five minutes." He then shut it behind him, locking every latch.

Malcolm glanced down at his plate: a piece of white bread and what appeared to be a lumpy paste that may have once called itself oatmeal. Dani hadn't moved a muscle. Malcolm studied her for a minute trying to figure out the best way to proceed. They had to talk, to plan. "You should try and eat something, Dani."

"I'm not touching that," she said kicking her plate further away from her.

"At least drink the water. Dehydration isn't going to make our escape any easier," he replied.

"How do we know it isn't drugged?"

"It's not," Malcolm replied matter of factly, ripping off a piece of the bread and eating it.

Dani shifted slightly forward so he could see her face now, "And you know that how?"

"You want the truth?"

"Yes. I always want the truth, Bright."

Malcolm swallowed his bite. He thought about sugar-coating it, but given what lies before them what was the point? "He won't drug us because he wants us fully aware of what he plans to do to us."

"Oh," she paused, "I guess that makes sense." Dani sat there for a moment, unmoving. Then she reached forward for the water cup and began sipping.

"On the topic of unsavory things-" Malcolm took a drink from his own cup, and tried once more to find some humorous way to introduce the topic. There wasn't one. "We need to discuss what's about to happen, Dani."

"No we don't, Bright," again, she turned her head and refused to make eye contact with him.

"Yes we do," he stretched his neck and tilted his head sideways trying to find her eyes with his. A difficult task from twenty feet away. "We don't have much time until he comes back. We have to. Please."

The "please" turned Dani's head and she slowly looked at him.

Malcolm took this as an invitation to begin, "He's going to make you hurt me, Dani. We know the profile. We know his M.O. He gets off on not just the physical torture but the mental as well. I'm not sure what the method will be, but he will make _you_ inflict the pain as a way to get to us both."

"I can't do that, Malcolm. I can't torture you," her voice was already beginning to shake.

"You'll have to. He's not going to give us an option. If you refuse he will kill you. And you're sure as hell not doing that," he tried to think of anything he could possibly say to help calm her fear. "Listen, I can take it, Dani. Truly. You know what I've been through in my life. Physical pain is nothing compared to that. I promise you. I will be fine. But I won't be fine if something happens to you because you refuse, okay? Okay?"

Her reply was a barely-audible, "Okay."

As if on cue, the locks on the door began clicking, Nathan returned to the room with a small trash can in one hand. He collected Malcolm's leftovers first then proceeded to Dani's. Naghan noted the kicked plate with interest, "What's wrong, sweetie? Don't like my cooking?" He chuckled as he leaned outside the door to deposit the trash can out of the room, then shut it behind him. "Alright," he stretched his arms open wide, clapped once, and rubbed his hands together, "let's get started. Shall we?"

Nathan reached into his pocket and withdrew a key. He approached Dani, who backed as far away as she could until the wall denied her. He reached out and brushed her hair out of her face and inhaled slowly. Then he leaned in mere inches from her, "Fear smells amazing on you, Dani. Arousing even." Nathan took another extended inhale and smiled. He reached down and grabbed the lock on her manacle, undid it and let the shackle drop. Dani, immediately threw a punch in his direction, which he was more than prepared for. He caught her wrist in his hand and began to bend it back uncomfortably. "You think you're my first, Sweetheart? Try that again and you'll both regret it."

Nathan threw her hand aside and proceeded to free the other. "We are going to take a little walk to the other side of the room now. You think you can handle that without doing something else that's incredibly stupid?"

Dani nodded.

"Good. Let's go." It took about six steps to cross the room. "On your knees, Malcolm." Reluctantly he picked himself up and complied. "You too," Nathan spat as he shoved Dani to her knees in front of Malcolm. Nathan knelt next to them, grabbed Malcolm's left arm, and began rolling up the sleeve of his button up.

"Do whatever you want to m e, just leave her out of it," Malcolm knew it was useless to plead with Nathan, this was his M.O. But for whatever reason he felt compelled to at least try and give Dani a few more seconds to prepare, "Please."

Nathan acted as though he hadn't heard a single thing Malcolm had said. Once he got the sleeve rolled high enough, he simply reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small, battery-powered soldering iron. Smirking at the tool, he held it out to Dani. She took it from him and stared at it with a terrified expression and then slowly looked up at Malcolm. There were already tears welling up in her eyes. Nathan grabbed Malcolm's arm but Malcolm jerked it away.

"Get off me!" he sneered as he looked Nathan in the eyes and held his arm out toward Dani on his own.

Nathan's mouth slowly curved into a cheshire-cat grin as he held the eye contact with Malcolm. Then he slowly turned to Dani and reached down to turn on the tool she was white-knuckling in her hand. "Careful now. It's hot," he taunted as he again smiled from ear to ear at Malcolm.

Dani tried to stall, "I don't know how to use one of these." She loathed playing the stupid female, but sometimes it worked to her benefit. This was not one of those times.

"It's simple," Nathan pointed to the tip of the tool, "This is set to 400 degrees," he turned to Malcolm, "Farenheight, don't worry," and winked.

_Yes because that makes all the difference,_ Malcolm thought barely containing his eye roll.

Nathan continued, "And you're going to press it against Malcolm's arm until I tell you to stop," again he turned to Malcolm, "over and over and over."

Malcolm silently stared down Nathan in defiance.

"I- I can't," Dani pleaded, "I won't." Her voice gained more conviction, "I won't do it."

Malcolm's eyes darted from Dani to Nathan and back again, terrified of how he would punish her for her insubordination.

"I figured you might say that," Nathan paused for the tiniest of seconds. Then in a flash, he pulled the gun that had been stuffed in his waistband behind his back, cocked it, and put it to the side of Malcolm's head, not hers.

"No. No. No. WAIT! WAIT! PLEASE!" Dani was frantic.

Malcolm tried to defuse the situation, "How about we all just take a breath here."

"SHUT UP!" Nathan spat as he redirected his attention to Dani. "Please what?" he tilted his head to the side. His eyes were wild.

"Please don't," Dani begged, "just put the gun down."

"Let me tell you how this is gonna go. Okay?" Nathan was eerily calm, "If I tell you to do something, you're gonna do it. If you refuse, I paint the wall a spectacular shade of Malcolm." Then in a rush of rage he screamed, "GOT IT?!"

"Yes. Yes. I got it."

"Now pick up the tool and do as I said."

Dani hadn't even noticed she'd dropped it. She reached down and picked it up. Her hands were shaking almost violently. Malcolm re extended his arm toward her.

"I'm sorry," Dani whispered, her eyes pleading for forgiveness in advance.

"It's okay," he forced a half grin to try and make it easier for her. "Dani, it's okay. Everything is going to be fine. I promise."

"You're a bad liar," Nathan mocked his gun still resting snuggly next to Malcolm's right temple. "Let's go!"

Dani gave Malcolm one last apologetic look. He nodded ever so slightly, giving her permission. Then she raised the tool and brought the tip of it down as lightly as she could to his forearm, barely touching the skin. Malcolm wasn't surprised when Nathan sighed audibly and used his free hand to slam down on the other end of the iron, forcing the scorching tip into his arm so hard that the force of the impact hurt him before the burning set in. Dani pulled her arm away unthinkingly and kneeled there frozen, waiting for a response from her friend.

Malcolm did not make a sound. He simply closed his eyes and tried to remember the breathing exercises he did in Yoga. It hurt. It hurt _a lot._ But it wasn't as bad as he had expected. Then again he knew full well this wasn't anywhere near over.

He reopened his eyes just as Nathan's angry voice began berating Dani. "Did I tell you to stop?!" He used the gun to point at her, not threatening, but as an extension of his hand, "Next time you try that just-the-tip bullshit I'll put it in his eye instead. Do it again." Dani nodded and compiled. The soldering iron met Malcolm's skin about three inches higher on his forearm than the first time. "Hold it," Nathan demanded.

Dani held it in place. Two seconds. Three seconds…

Malcolm somehow managed complete silence. But he couldn't keep his forearm from shaking from the pain.

Four seconds… "Please!" Dani implored.

Nathan tapped her hand and she jerked the tool away as fast as she possibly could. She looked down at Malcolm's arm. Unlike the first one, which had bubbled into a dime-shaped blister, this mark was already oozing blood down the side of his forearm.

"Again," Nathan said. Again Dani brought the red hot tool down onto Malcom's flesh. Each time it made contact her stomach lurched, bile made its way up the back of her throat and into her mouth. The guilt of each new mark weighed down on her chest like an anvil.

Again and again Nathan demanded she burn him. Each time Malcolm kept steadfastly silent. His arm was shaking uncontrollably at this point, but he refused to give Nathan the satisfaction of hearing him scream. After the ninth time that Dani was forced to prod his arm, Malcolm could tell that Nathan was frustrated. His arm was dripping a fair amount of blood, but he wasn't giving his captor the response that he so desperately craved. Malcolm knew this was a dangerous game to play. Denying a sadistic killer their gratification rarely goes well for people. But the stubborn side of him refused to give Nathan the pleasure.

"Again," Nathan repeated for a tenth time. "Only this time… write Malcom a message."

Dani's head whipped around toward her captor, "What do you mean 'write him a message'?" she asked incredulously.

Malcolm remained silent with his head lowered. The pain was causing him to sweat profusely now in addition to the violently shaking of his arm. His shirt was sticking to him everywhere.

"I mean use the iron to spell words. Write," he replied.

Dani knew better than to say she wouldn't do it again. But she tried to stall, "What exactly am I supposed to write?"

"A sonnet. A 'to do' list. Your address. I really don't give a shit. But stop delaying and do it. Now!"

"Alright," Dani moved closer to Malcolm.

He raised his head slightly. He wanted to look at her, to reassure her that this was all okay. But he knew that his ability to mask the pain was damn-near non existent at this point and he couldn't bear it if he made her feel worse. She used her left hand to brace the uninjured side of his forearm and brought the soldering iron close to his skin again. This time she held it like a twisted version of a pencil, keeping her hand just high enough on the device to not burn herself as well.

"Ready?" She asked Malcolm in a last attempt to delay the inevitable.

"Just fucking do it!" Nathan snapped.

Dani lowered her makeshift pencil to Malcolm's skin. He immediately made a fist and tensed. The tremors in his arm made it difficult for her. Thankfully she didn't have to press as hard as before and made sure she moved the iron as fast as she possibly could, but Dani could hear Malcolm's resolve breaking down. What had been complete silence was now hissed, quick breaths in and out. She had one letter to go when his willpower finally shattered completely and Malcolm let out one single blood-curdling scream that completely crushed her heart. She pulled away from his arm, her orders fulfilled, and again dropped the iron to the floor.

Nathan leaned in to survey the damage, and the message. He grabbed Malcolm's chin and raised his head. Malcolm's hair was soaked with sweat. He tried to blink away the drops that were falling into his eyes. Nathan smiled as he inspected his captive's face for the one thing he craved most, pain.

He must have gotten what he was looking for, because he tossed Malcolm's face aside and announced, "I think that's enough for now." He reached down and grabbed Dani by the arm lifting her up and marching her back to her restraints. Once she was secured, he returned to Malcolm and grabbed his injured arm without any care for where he touched.

Malcolm hissed in pain and tried to wrench his arm back, but his strength was depleted.

"That looks painful," Nathan taunted. "You should put some ointment on that. You don't want it to get infected. Might kill ya." He flashed one last smile before exiting the room.

Malcolm collapsed onto his back, exhausted. His arm was still shaking so badly that he couldn't get a good look at the wounds. He used his left arm to steady his injured one. His body was so spent that he could barely keep his eyes open long enough to see the message that had been forever branded into his skin. It was short, written in a neat cursive script. A single word.

Dani.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hi, everyone! Thank you so much for reading. I'm so excited to be writing my first fic. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Thanks!

The entire precinct was buzzing like a hive. Officers, Detectives, and Lieutenants were rushing from desk to desk, answering phones, going over stacks of files, discussing details with partners. Every single person available was working the case, trying to find their missing teammates. In the conference room, Gil was standing in front of the white board looking at photos of previous victims, a cup of luke-warm coffee in his hand. JT was sitting at the table, combing over reports he'd read twenty times already. He slammed the file closed and rested his head in his hands.

Gil watched as frustration and exhaustion emanated from his detective, "Why don't you go home for a few hours, JT? Get some rest. Come back fresh."

JT didn't move his position. He simply replied, "Could you?" from beneath his hands.

Gil couldn't exactly argue with that logic. He too was running on stale coffee and a prayer.

"They've been gone for thirty-seven hours, Gil."

"I know."

"We know his timeline. Best case scenario we've got five days. _Best_ case"

"That doesn't matter, JT, because we're going to find them long before then." Gil refused to think any other way. They were going to get Dani and Bright back. Failure wasn't an option.

"How? We've got NOTHING!" JT slammed his fists down on the table and jumped up, knocking his chair backward. "We've been three steps behind this guy for over two weeks already!"

"We're making progress. We've got a possible description of his truck."

"Exactly, Gil. A 'possible' description. Meanwhile," he stormed the whiteboard and pointed at the photos of the male victims' injuries, "THIS is what's probably happening to Malcolm RIGHT NOW! And Dani's the one being forced to do it!"

Gil turned his head away. He'd been trying desperately not to imagine what might be happening to Bright at this very moment. Or the toll it would take on Dani as the one being made to do it. "We just have to keep pushing, JT. Somehow, we have to find a way to get to them in time."

"I know, boss," he leaned back on the table and rubbed his eyes. "It's just all I can think about is the one thing we need to crack this case is-"

"Bright."

"Yeah," JT crossed his arms and opened his mouth to say something but changed his mind.

Gil looked inquisically at his partner, "What?"

"What he's gonna do to Dani… if he hasn't already."

Gil couldn't find his voice. JT scratched his cheek, wiping a tear away sneakily in the process. He cleared his voice, the moment of hopelessness had passed. His determination returned anew, "WHEN we find this guy. I get ten minutes alone with him."

Gil grinned and gave him a "cheers" gesture with his coffee cup. JT walked around the table, picked up his chair, and continued scouring the reports for anything they might have missed. Gil sat down across from him and did the same.

I CAN SHOW OTHERS I CARE THROUGH SELFLESSNESS AND SACRIFICE

For a split second when Malcolm awoke, he had forgotten. He opened his eyes wondering why his back hurt so badly. When he rolled on his side, and subsequently part of his injured arm, everything came back to him instantly. "Ahhh," he winced, bringing himself up into a sitting position. As he did, he noticed something laying on the ground next to him. A small tube and roll of gauze.

_You should put some ointment on that. You don't want it to get infected._

Malcolm couldn't help but laugh, as he read the tube's label, "Triple Antibiotic Ointment." A second huffed chuckle escaped him. _He was serious._ He opened the tube and squeezed about half of it onto his arm. Now the fun part, rubbing it in. Malcolm took a deep breath, and began to gently push the ointment around his forearm. He hissed each time he went over one of the burns. It would be a miracle if every one of them didn't get massively infected. He reached the last one, the one closest to the crook of his elbow, Dani's name. As he smoothed the ointment across it, he noticed that this one hurt significantly less than the others. His logical side noted the reason for that was because she wasn't forced to press as hard. Malcolm still found a poetic significance in it nonetheless.

"How bad does it hurt?" Malcolm hadn't noticed, Dani was awake. He wondered if she'd even slept at all.

Malcolm began wrapping his forearm with the gauze Nathan had left for him. "On a scale of zero to hammer-inflicted-metacarpal-fracture-to-escape-the-last-serial-killer-who-had-me-chained-in-a-basement… I'd say a six." He'd hoped to hear some semblance of relief, maybe even a snicker, from his partner, but she gave none. The way she was sitting, he could actually see her face relatively clearly. Yet again, she wouldn't make eye contact with him. "Hey," he coaxed, "I'm fine, Dani. Seriously. Look." He held up his arm, showing her the wrapping he'd just completed.

"I have. I saw your arm, Malcolm. The burns, the blood, all of it. I did that to you."

"You had no choice. Your options were: burn me or let him shoot me in the head. Honestly, I'm pretty grateful for the route you chose."

"Malcolm, my name is branded on your arm. Forever!"

"Well, some friends get drunk on Spring Break and get tattoos. We get held captive and brand your name on my arm."

Dani was exasperated. "How can you possibly make jokes about this?"

"Because, Dani. Is any amount of guilt - or anger - going to remove these?" He gestured toward his injured arm with his left hand. "No. It is what it is. You can't change it."

"I would if I could," Malcolm watched as she wiped her cheeks. She was crying. He knew Dani well enough not to bring it up.

"I know you would. Dani this," he gestured to show he meant the room, the whole situation they were trapped in, "is about survival. We do what he have to to survive, to escape. No matter what. We can deal with everything else once we're out of here. Deal?"

"Deal."

"No more apologies. We save all that for another day. Okay?"

"Okay."

Malcolm decided to change the subject, "Were you awake when Nathan brought the ointment in?"

"Yeah, but I don't think he knew. It was only a few minutes before you woke up. Did he do that with the other people he held captive?"

Malcolm noticed she refused to say the word victim, seeing as how they would be lumped into that same category. "I'm not sure," his profiler brain kicked in, not that it really ever turned off. "If he was healing his vic- captors, then that could throw our profiled timeline off a bit."

"Why?"

"Well, we looked at the injuries and their various levels of healing as a gage to how long he was keeping people. But we thought they were healing naturally, not with any medicinal help. If he was helping to heal their wounds, then they weren't here as long as we thought they were," Malcolm was on one of his profiling tangents. "I mean we profiled that he was keeping people for anywhere from 7-12 days. If he was healing them, that could shift that timeline as low as 4-6 maybe." And then he heard himself. But there wasn't any taking those words back.

Dani didn't show any visible signs of panic, but he could tell in her eyes she was trying to play it off. "So that's what we should assume then? We've been here for what? Two days now? So, we should assume we've got two days to figure out a way to get out of here?"

"Maybe. I guess it's always better to assume the shortest amount of time and hope for the better. I just wish I could come up with something, anything that might be a viable way out of here."

The two of them sat in silence for a few moments. Malcolm was back to scouring the room for anything that might look useful in an escape attempt.

He was deep enough into the scenarios again that Dani's voice startled him, "Malcolm, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"When he comes back in here…" she broke off mid sentence.

Dani looked up at him, her eyes were filled with fear. The dread that flooded Malcolm's core at her mentioning the topic would have floored him, had he not already been there. He couldn't fathom what she must be feeling and he had absolutely no idea what to say to her.

Dani cleared her throat and steadied her voice, "Maybe I'm grasping at straws here, but the other day in the conference room, when we were talking about his methods…" she paused again.

"Yeah?" was all Malcolm could come up with.

"When you were telling us why he… did certain things. You said he took couples because of the psychological aspect not necessarily the physical, right?"

"Yes. He uses the romantic bond as a weakness, a leveraging mechanism to psychologically torture them in addition to the physical component." Malcolm was unsure where this was going.

"Okay, but we're not in a relationship. We're not involved"

"True."

"And Nathan knows that. He knows we're cops," Malcolm started to interject, but she held up her hand to correct herself, "or cop and consultant. That we work together."

"Yes he does," Malcolm thought he knew where this was headed now. "You're wondering if that changes his M.O.? If he might not…"

"Yeah, I guess so. I don't know," she was fidgeting with her fingers, picking at random places. He could tell she was trying to figure out how to say something in her head. He gave her a moment to gather her thoughts. After a minute or two she asked, "Isn't the point of raping the women, so he can force the men who love them to watch?"

There it was. She'd actually said the word.

Malcolm didn't know how to respond. He didn't think he could bear to see her face if he told her the truth: that if Nathan got off on sexual assault, then that wasn't going to change. Forcing the husband/lover to watch and listen to the act was just a bonus for him. It hurt not to reply to her, but Malcolm thought giving her hope only to have it ripped violently away would be worse than what she was already trying to cope with.

He tried to think of something, anything to say to try and help her. Nothing.

After a few seconds, Dani seemed to understand what his silence meant. She simply nodded a few times to herself, "Yeah, I figured it was a long shot."

The first lock on the door clicked. They both startled at the sound. How did it somehow seem twice as loud? As the remaining locks were unfastened Dani's eyes met Malcolm's. They were screaming in silent terror and her breathing was rapid.

"It's going to be ok, Dani. Try and go to another place, in your mind. Survival, remember?" Every bit of what he was saying to her sounded like absolute bullshit. But it was all he could think of.

Nathan opened the door like he had just entered the home of a close friend, "Afternoon. How's everyone feeling today?" He closed the door behind him and took a few steps in Malcolm's direction. Dani scooted as far back into her corner as she possibly could. "I see you got my care package." He closed the distance to Malcolm and squatted down. "How's the pain?"

Malcolm knew it was stupid to respond, but the more Nathan was paying attention to him, the less he was paying attention to Dani. "What pain?" he retorted.

"What pain? Heh," Nathan chuckled at his captive's response and genuinely smiled. "I really do like you, Malcolm. I feel like in another life, we would have been friends." As he finished the last word Nathan lashed out at Malcolm's forearm, backhanding it so hard his chains were instantly taught and his wrist screamed out in pain along with his burns.

"AHHH," Malcolm pulled his injured arm into his chest, careful not to put any more pressure on the wounds.

"How about now?" Nathan asked and he rose back onto a standing position. He turned in the opposite direction, "How are you doing today, Dani?" he inquired as he took slow, deliberate steps toward her.

Malcolm was on his knees in an instant, "Hey, Nathan!" he yelled in an attempt to distract him.

Nathan answered, "What do you want?' but his march to Dani never ceased.

_I have no idea. Think, Malcolm. Think. _"When our team gets here, and your face is plastered on every news outlet, what do you think they'll call you?"

Again, Nathan never turned his gaze from Dani. He was about a foot from her now, again he crouched down in front of his captive, "While I appreciate the effort, Malcolm, Dani and I have some urgent business to attend to."

"Stay away from me," Dani warned pulling her legs in against her chest.

"My dear, that is what is known as an empty threat. What exactly do you intend to do?"

Malcolm tried to get Nathan's attention once again, "Are you worried you won't get national coverage when they catch you? Would it bother you if it was just the local news stations?" Nathan completely ignored him this time.

Nathan reached out and touched the side of Dani's thigh. She smacked his hand away. And he smacked her face in return, opened-palm.

"Leave her alone!" Malcolm yelled helplessly, from across the room.

Nathan again reached out but this time he grabbed both of Dani's ankles and jerked them with all his might. She slid in his direction, the force of the movement caused her head to hit the cement floor hard enough that her vision went blurry for a few seconds. He had pulled her far enough that her hands were pinned over her head, with no further give from the chains. In the few short seconds it took her to shake it off, Nathan was already undoing the button and zipper of her slacks. Dani kicked her legs to try and deter him. She connected with his torso once and despite being barefoot, the blow packed enough punch to knock Nathan backward. Once he got up he marched over to her and kicked her in her side. Dani curled up in pain.

Malcolm stood as best he could with the slack his restraints gave him and lunged, in vain, in Nathan's direction, "Don't touch her!"

This time Nathan did acknowledge him, by grabbing the cuffs of Dani's pants and staring Malcolm in the eyes as he yanked them off of her in one swift motion. The corners of Nathan's mouth curled into a devilish grin as he returned his gaze to Dani. This time he ran his hand from her calf all the way up her thigh to her underwear.

Malcom was desperate to help Dani, _Threats won't work. Your chained up 20 feet away, Bright. Beg!_ "Please! Hurt me. Do anything you want. I'm begging you! Just not to her."

Nathan turned his head, squeezed Dani's thigh, and raised himself up. As Malcolm watched Nathan cross the room toward him, the look on the killer's face sent ice water through his veins. Joy.

Once he reached him, Nathan slowly leaned into Malcolm's ear and whispered, "You care about her." Then he leaned back out, excited to see Malcolm's response.

"What?"

"Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me. I'm GREAT at keeping things to myself." Nathan was practically giddy. "But this… this has possibilities." He was pacing back and forth in front of Malcolm, the wheels in his head were turning, a visible bounce to his step. Suddenly he stopped mid-step and twisted to face Malcolm again. "Okay, hero." He stepped toward Malcolm once more. "You want me to leave Dani alone?"

"Yes."

"You want me to stop undressing her?"

"Yes."

"Touching her?"

"Yes!"

"You'll do _anything_ to keep me from fucking her right there on the concrete floor?

"YES!"

"Okay."

Malcolm was stunned. "What?"

"Fine," Nathan spun on his heels and checked on Dani, who, in the midst of their discussion, had sat herself up and was clutching her legs again. "You win. I won't go over there and fuck Dani so hard she forgets her own name."

He swung his body around to face Malcolm again. "But you will."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: First off, let me say that my first experience with fanfic thus far has been so heart-warming. You guys have been incredibly kind with your favorites. Please comment and let me know your thoughts Thank you so very much!

So, about a week and a half ago I dreamed this chapter and couldn't get the scene out of my head - please don't judge me- and decided it had to be written.

It goes without saying that this chapter has massive trigger warnings for sexual assault etc.

Chapter 4

I CAN SURVIVE ANY TRIAL. NO TORMENT CAN OVERCOME ME

"_You want me to leave Dani alone?"_

"_Yes."_

"_You want me to stop undressing her?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Touching her?"_

"_Yes!" _

"_You'll do _anything _to keep me from fucking her right there on the concrete floor?_

"_YES!"_

"_Okay."_

_Malcolm was stunned. "What?"_

"_Fine," Nathan spun on his heels and checked on Dani, who, in the midst of their discussion, had sat herself up and was clutching her legs again. "You win. I won't go over there and fuck Dani so hard she forgets her own name." _

_He swung his body around to face Malcolm again. "But you will."_

All the air left Malcolm's lungs, as though Nathan had kicked him square in the chest. The strength in his legs gave out, but he managed to take one knee at a time instead of completely buckling. It took him a few seconds to remember how to inhale. When he finally did, the breaths were shallow and quick. "What did you say?" Malcolm whispered, praying he had momentarily hallucinated, which was entirely plausible.

Nathan cocked his head to the side and studied his captive, taking in every single detail of the moment almost scientifically. Thoroughly reveling in the chaos and anguish. Malcolm's eyes were staring unfocused at the wall behind the killer. Nathan took two steps in Malcolm's direction and stared down at him. Malcolm's head creeped upward until he was looking his tormentor in the face.

"I said," Nathan's words were slow and deliberate, "If you don't want _me_ to completely ravish every inch of her body," he crouched down, menace dancing in his eyes, "then you do it."

_No._ The reply was crystal clear in Malcolm's mind. _No way in hell._

Why weren't the words exiting his mouth? His psyche answered him, _because you know you can't refuse. You can't abandon her. _

Nathan was enthralled with Malcolm's obvious inner struggle. He stood up and leisurely walked toward the wooden table. When he reached it, he jumped up into a sitting position atop it, clearly enjoying himself. He sat there for a few seconds glancing back and forth between the two prisoners.

Malcolm looked over at Dani. Her arms were still wrapped around her bare legs. Her pants tossed aside by Nathan, out of reach. Malcolm searched her eyes for an answer, but he couldn't read her like he usually could. He was lost.

A minute or two passed. "Decision time, Malcolm," Nathan announced. "What's it gonna be?"

"I-" he swallowed despite the fact his mouth was so dry it felt like a desert. "Uh-" Malcolm silently implored Dani to give him a sign, tell him what she wanted.

As though she had actually heard his thoughts, Dani spoke. Her voice was a mere whisper, "Please." She paused for a moment, biting her lip, then looked up at the ceiling and blinked. The silent tears that fell down her cheeks mangeld Malcolm's heart. Dani looked at him again. This time her whisper was desperate, "Please, Malcolm... Not him."

_Fuck. _

Malcolm fell back off of his knees into a seated position. He ran both of his hands through his hair, half tempted to pull it out as he went. His defeated reply came out as a miserable groan, "Okay."

"There's the hero." Nathan hopped down off of the table, key in hand, and bent next to Malcolm. Before he unlocked the first manacle he pulled a switch blade from his pocket and wiggled it. "You try anything, and we'll learn just how long it takes gorgeous over there to bleed out."

Malcolm half nodded as Nathan began freeing his wrists from the constraints.

"I gotta be honest, I'm a little jealous," Nathan taunted, turning so that both men were staring at Dani. "I mean look at that. Mmm." He stood up and motioned for Malcolm to do the same, "Let's Go."

Malcolm stood. His feet felt like they were glued to the floor; he was frozen. All he could do was look at the concrete beneath him.

Nathan moved behind him and nudged his back with the unopened knife, but Malcolm remained in place. "Wanna know the best part?" Malcolm wasn't sure if he was talking to him, or Dani, or both. "The best part is that moment when her body will inevitably betray her."

Malcolm slowly raised his head at the comment. He saw Dani's face as she reacted to Nathan's next words.

"You see at some point, Biology takes over. Her body will react to you, to being stimulated, even if she doesn't want it to. Even if it's just as a defense to the penetration. She will get wet for you."

Dani's eyes were wide as she broke contact with Malcolm. "That's enough," he retorted. This time Nathan shoved Malcolm forward hard enough that he had no choice but to move.

Halfway to the other side of the room, Nathan continued, "Now if you're truly lucky, or really talented, you might even earn her reluctant climax. The ultimate biological betrayal of the mind. And it is fucking euphoric." They were standing in front of Dani now.

Nathan tapped Malcolm's injured forearm, "Pants off, lover boy." And he returned to take his seat on the table a few feet away.

Malcolm compiled, but did not move once he had finished.

"Let's go!" Nathan demanded impatiently, "Oh and for the record, you will properly claim her."

"What does that mean?" Malcolm had no clue what he was implying. He was sure he didn't want to know.

"You will mark your territory properly. Fill her," Nathan was visibly turned on at the notion.

_Jesus Christ._ Malcolm was too shame-filled to look at Dani's reaction. Instead he noted the chains still attached to her wrists.

"You're not going to uncuff her?"

"Why would I do that? None of this is about her comfort. They can't fight back when they're restrained." He gestured for Malcolm to get on the floor.

Malcolm knelt down in front of Dani. She released her legs and moved gradually to her own knees as well. They sat there, a foot apart, unmoving.

"Was any part of this arrangement unclear?" the agitation in Nathan's voice was growing. "Get to it, or I'll show you how it's done."

"No. Don't." Malcolm held up his hand toward their captor, "Wait."

"Malcolm?" Dani questioned clearly worried that he might have changed his mind.

"I'm trying, Dani. It's just…"

"What?"

"Nothing about this is particularly arousing. Give me a second." Nothing he could possibly imagine was going to help him. He was terrified of what Nathan would do to her if he failed. _Come on. Come on. Come on. _His hands were shaking. His mouth still felt like sandpaper.

"You have two minutes before I take over," Nathan warned.

_Shit. _

"Kiss me," Dani ordered.

"What?"

"Just do it, Malcolm."

Malcolm nodded his head and closed the remaining distance between him and Dani. He cupped her face in his hands and brought his lips to hers. It was a chaste, closed-mouth kiss. The kind that you might give someone on their doorstep at the end of your first date. When they released the kiss Dani leaned in to his ear and whispered, "Go to another place, remember? Survive." And she softly kissed his neck below the jawline. _She's trying to help me. This is about to happen and SHE is trying to help ME_. Malcolm marveled at her strength at this moment.

Malcolm put one hand behind Dani's neck and pulled her lips to his once more. This time the kiss was deeper, but still felt awkward and forced. Dani opened her mouth and invited him to do the same with her tongue, an act that sent a shiver down the back of Malcolm's neck. He complied and their kiss deepened even further. As the kiss continued Malcolm wrapped his free arm around Dani and pulled her closer to him. She responded by attempting to wrap her arms around his neck. The chains made it difficult, but she managed.

_He was right. That sadistic prick was right. _Malcolm thought. With Dani's body flush against him, their tongues brushing each other, and her hands in his hair, he couldn't help but react to it. For a split second it worked; he had followed his own advice and 'gone somewhere else'.

Nathan's voice broke the spell, "Now that you're adequately prepared," he was right behind Malcolm. He and Dani abruptly broke their kiss.

_How did I not hear him?_ The fact that he was caught that off guard scared Malcolm.

"Get a move on," Nathan ordered, brandishing the knife threateningly as he returned to the table.

Dani reluctantly leaned back off of her knees and, in a semi-seated, semi-lying position removed her panties. Malcom made a point not to look. Even though it seemed frivolous at this point, he tried to show her that moment of respect at least. He removed his boxer briefs as well and noted she granted him the same courtesy. Dani laid the rest of the way down onto the unforgiving floor. Malcolm crawled until he was above her, his hands on either side of her head. His legs were resting between hers.

Malcolm looked down at his partner, neither of them prepared for what was about to happen. Regardless, he still asked her in a faint voice, "Ready?" Dani nodded in affirmation. Malcolm positioned himself correctly and slowly entered her. She inhaled quickly and held her breath for a second. Malcolm stopped. He wanted to ask her if she was alright. What an insane question. He simply waited until she breathed again, then continued pushing until he was completely enveloped by her. Again he paused to give her a moment to acclimate.

Malcolm tried desperately not to think about how good it actually felt. Getting the slightest bit of pleasure out of this felt treasonous toward Dani. The torment of it all was he would have to, otherwise Nathan would do far worse to her than he would. He withdrew himself from Dani and entered a second time, again slowly. This time she didn't wince in pain, so Malcolm continued. He kept the same slow, gentle pace, trying his best not to hurt her any further. Neither of them made direct eye contact with the other, although Malcolm was frequently checking parts of her face for signs of discomfort. He was at war with himself internally the entire time. He loathed himself for the pleasure he was feeling, but if he wanted this to be over as quickly as possible, he had to be mentally 'present' to speed up the process. No matter what he did, he felt damned for it.

Malcolm's thoughts were interrupted by Nathan's irritated voice, "This is not a romance novel, Malcolm."

He stopped his movements and turned his head in Nathan's direction, "What exactly is it that I'm doing wrong?"

"Stop making love and start fucking. Own her. Fill her. Make her feel you there this time tomorrow... or I will slit her throat while you're still inside her."

Malcolm tensed at the threat. For the first time since she had lain down, Malcolm looked directly into Dani's eyes. He put every ounce of desperate, silent apology into his gaze. Again, she nodded, understanding what had to happen to appease their captor.

Malcolm lowered his head and rested his forehead against hers. Dani closed her eyes and took a deep breath and he mimicked her action. Then he lifted his head and grabbed the back of Dani's thigh. Malcolm hitched her leg up and around his hip, so it wrapped around to the small of his back. Then he found her entrance, and thrust forward. His pace this time was far quicker; his movements were more harsh and rigid. Dani was quiet with the exception of the occasional abrupt inhale. Each pistoning motion pushed Malcolm deeper, brought him closer to completion. After a few minutes at this rougher momentum he felt his climax building. The fact that his desperation to finish was fueled equally by his desire _and _his need to get it over with for Dani's sake was a psychological mind fuck.

In the end, desire won over. His pace and force intensified. The closer he came to his peak, the deeper he pushed into Dani. A few more thrusts like this and Malcolm felt his orgasm wash over him. "Nnghhhh," he couldn't suppress his moan. He pumped into her one final time as his release came in spasms. It took him a few seconds to come down from the high.

He looked at Dani and saw tears falling down the sides of her face. He pushed himself up off of her and backed away mortified.

Malcolm was completely disgusted with himself. Nathan came to stand next to him, and handed him his discarded clothes, "Well done, Malcolm." He patted his prisoner on the shoulder like a proud father at a sporting event. All Malcolm could do was stand there and stare agape at Dani. She had curled herself up into a ball on the cold concrete floor. He could hear her soft sobs through her covered face.

Nathan tossed Dani's pants within reaching distance and escorted Malcolm back to his corner. "Clothes on, Casanova." Malcolm did as he was told, in stunned dismay. As Nathan began re-cuffing Malcolm's wrists he smiled, "It felt good didn't it?" Malcolm didn't respond. Nathan chuckled and stood to exit, reminding Malcolm in a boastful, delighted tone, "I told you...Biology wins." The door closed with a deafening thud.

Malcolm sat there, staring blankly at the wall, as the tidal wave of guilt and shame consumed him.


	5. Chapter 5

IN MY DARKEST HOUR, WHEN I FEEL AS THOUGH I'VE REACHED MY BREAKING POINT, I WILL LOOK FOR HOPE.

Malcolm had no idea how much time had passed since Nathan exited the room. He didn't care. It didn't matter. All that mattered was what he'd done. The anguish in Dani's eyes. The tears. The detestable, monstrous way he had actually lost himself in those final few seconds. Malcolm never thought himself the type of person to have a breaking point, a moment where your mind simply snaps and can no longer survive the trauma. Now, as the weight of his actions kept slowly crushing him minute by minute, he wasn't so sure. His chest literally ached as though someone was piling brick after brick upon him, gradually burying him under a mountain of guilt. He couldn't take full, deep breaths anymore. The weight was too heavy. He deserved it. All of it. Every ache, every arduous breath, every agonizing pain was a fraction of what he deserved to feel for what he'd done.

About an hour ago he risked a fleeting glance across the room. Dani was partially hidden in the shadow, seated against the wall with her arms and head on her knees. Malcolm was grateful she was positioned this way, he wasn't sure how he would ever look her in the face again.

The door clicked four times and Nathan entered, unidentifiable food in hand. Again, Nathan served Dani first and then Malcolm. After setting the paper plate down before him, Nathan tossed the antibiotic ointment and new gauze at him. Malcolm didn't move a muscle. He simply let the items fall to the ground next to him and left them where they lay, continuing his unfocused gaze toward the wall.

Nathan stepped over Malcolm's legs to his right side and crouched down next to his injured arm. Malcolm didn't acknowledge him, his eyes remained forward. Nathan took a moment to look Malcolm over then raised his hand in front of his prisoner's face and snapped his fingers. Malcolm's catatonic stare never faltered. Dani raised her head for the first time since Nathan had entered the room. He snapped again. No response.

"What's wrong, Malcolm?" Nathan asked in faux sincerity. "Talk to me, buddy. What's on your mind?" He paused. "Having a little trouble coming to terms with it all? I'm curious, which part is bothering you more," he leaned in closer to Malcolm's face, "the fact that you raped your partner or the fact that part of you actually enjoyed it?"

Without warning, Malcolm lunged at Nathan. The force and sheer surprise of the blow knocked him flat on his back. Fury filled Malcolm as he put every ounce of hatred he had for himself and for Nathan into the first punch he threw. But his arm came to a violent halt four inches away from Nathan's face. The chains groaned with the force he had put behind the swing, and his wrist, clasped in the manacle, paid the price for it. Nathan lay there beneath Malcolm, fully prepared to take the hit. Then opened his eyes in shock when it never connected. A diabolical smile stretched across his face. He quickly pulled the switchblade from his pocket and under Malcolm's chained arms, held it to his chest.

Malcolm looked down at the threat.

"AaaaaaaAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" he bellowed in frustration at his missed opportunity. His misery at the horror he had inflicted on Dani, everything, came out in one gut-wrenching sound. He let his fist drop. He picked himself up off of Nathan, walked back to the wall, turned, and slid down it until he flopped onto the cold ground, his head in his hands.

Nathan got up and dramatically dusted himself off, "Now that was exciting!" He turned to Dani and gestured emphatically, "Wasn't that exciting? Wow!" He returned the knife to his pocket, ran his hands through his hair smoothing it back into place, and looked around the room. "You almost had me there, Malcolm," he snickered. "Seriously, though. Whew. Close one." He headed toward the door, "Eat your food. Clean up those wounds. Get some rest. I'll be back for more excitement soon." The familiar sound of the latches echoed throughout the room.

Malcolm sat there, his head in his hands, lamenting what was likely his only opportunity to free Dani from this torment. Whether or not he escaped was irrelevant at this point. His only priority was to get her out. In a sea of impossibility, fate had thrown him a life preserver. And he'd dropped it.

_Damn it! I had him. _Malcolm groaned as he lowered his head into the crooks of his arms and fisted his hair in his hands. _I fucking had him! _He squeezed his head in his arms, the pressure painfully reminding him of his jerked his head back, glaring at his bandage.

"You should probably re dress that," Dani's timid voice suggested from across the room.

Malcolm's head whipped in her direction. His whole body tensed at the sound of her voice. She was looking directly at him. Their eyes met and he recoiled, as though he'd been struck. He instantly looked away in shame, unable to bear her gaze. She didn't comment any further as she reached for her food.

Reluctantly, he decided to follow Dani's suggestion. He untucked the end of the gauze near his wrist and began to slowly unwind it. He winced as it peeled stickily off his wounds. As the cloth reached the end of his forearm, it fell away, revealing Dani's name. In the midst of all that had happened, Malcolm had forgotten about her signature. A fresh surge of guilt washed over him at the sight. Without thinking, he ran his fingers across her name tenderly. As though the caress might soothe the inevitable ache in her soul. He applied the ointment gingerly and wrapped the new gauze in place.

Leaning his head back against the wall, he stared at the bare-stud ceiling. His food and water lay untouched a foot from him.

"Malcolm?" again Dani's voice floated across the room.

He closed his eyes and didn't respond. He was unworthy of conversation with her.

"Please."

"_Please, Malcolm... Not him." _Dani's desperate plea echoed in his mind.

"I can't get through this alone, Malcolm. Please."

His eyes remained closed. He knew talking to her would add more weight to the ever-growing force crushing his chest, but how could he refuse her anything after what he'd done?

"How can you stand to even look at me, Dani?" he asked.

She was silent.

"How does my name on your lips _not _make you violently ill?"

"Look at me," she requested. When he didn't comply, Dani's voice grew stronger, more firm "_Look_ at me."

Malcolm began picking nervously at his fingertips. His hands were shaking so badly he wouldn't have been able to hold a pen. His heavy head tilted just a fraction in her direction, letting his eyes move the rest of the distance necessary to see her. As their eyes met, Malcolm inhaled sharply, the agony of his actions engulfed him anew. A few minutes passed while they sat there, the contact never breaking, wordlessly looking at each other. Malcolm felt the familiar sting behind his eyes and tears silently fell down his cheeks while he continued looking at her. Her stare was unwavering, the silence overwhelming. He couldn't take it any longer.

Malcolm took a trembling breath, "I'm sorry, Dani." He lowered his head in contrition. If ever there was a sentence that was criminally inadequate, this was surely it. The tears flooded his lap as he continued, "I'm so sorry." Malcolm repeated the phrase several times like a mantra. He would never ask for her forgiveness, but he would spend the rest of his life attempting to atone for his sin.

Once more he apologized, as he sat, tapping the back of his head against the wall.

Dani wiped her own tears away while she responded softly, "I know."

Silence permeated the room yet again.

Dani stood, walked the short distance forward that her chains would allow, and sat on her knees. "Malcolm, this is on him. He did this."

"Don't, Dani," Malcolm begged, "please don't try and make this easier for me. I don't deserve your compassion. I deserve your _resentment_. Give me that at least."

"I don't resent you."

"Why not?!" he brought himself to his knees exasperated, "After what I did to you? Dani I-"

"Stop it, Malcolm."

"I ra-" he choked on the word; it doubled him over. Malcolm wiped the unending tears that were flowing down his cheek. He forced himself to look her square in the eyes as, on his knees, he confessed his transgression, "I violated you in the most abhorrent way possible." Malcolm lifted his head toward the ceiling as though he was looking for persecution from the heavens. His volume steadily rose with each admission, "And some monstrous part of me actually got gratification from it, Dani! I was doing _that_ to you, and was still able to…" He bit his lip to keep from hysterically sobbing. "And then I looked down and there you were… crying. Because of what I'd done to you!" Malcolm's head fell in shame.

"I begged you, Malcolm. I needed it to be you, to keep it from being him!"

"That doesn't make it OKAY, DANI!"

"I KNOW THAT!" she yelled. "I KNOW THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT OKAY, MALCOLM. NONE OF THIS IS 'OKAY'. IT'S NOT OKAY THAT WE'RE CHAINED TO THE FLOOR IN THE BASEMENT OF A SADISTIC KILLER. IT'S NOT OK THAT I BURNED MY NAME INTO YOUR ARM WITH A SOLDERING IRON. IT'S NOT OK THAT THAT BASTARD MADE **ME **CHOSE WHO WHO WAS GOING TO -" she too couldn't bring herself to say the word aloud.

Dani paused, visibly choosing her next words wisely. "I'm not trying to make you feel better. But I'm not trying to make you feel worse than I know you already do. To be honest I'm not trying to feel anything right now. This whole situation," her arms opened in a wide motion, "is for us and a therapist to figure out some other day." Malcolm looked up at her questioningly. "I'm not denying what happened, Malcolm. I know it did. We just can't afford to have the breakdown it deserves. Not right now. We need each other to get through this. We can't do it alone. First, we survive. We get out of here. Then we deal with these demons." She looked him in the eye and pleaded for his agreement, "Okay?"

Malcolm was in awe. She was, by far, the most courageous person he had ever met. If Dani could find that level of strength despite everything that had happened, then so would he. For her.

He nodded slightly, "Okay."

Gil stirred the emptied sugar packet into his coffee as he watched Jessica exit the office. She was terrified for her son, she was helpless, and he understood her frustration more than she would ever know. It had been almost three days since they lost contact with their teammates. While they were exhausting every possible lead, it felt like they were getting absolutely nowhere. They'd traced and retraced their steps the night of the attempted sting, checked dozens of security cameras, and interviewed almost a hundred people who came forward as being at the club that evening. Some remembered seeing Dani and Bright throughout the night, others didn't. A few guys admitted they had attempted to hit on Dani to no avail. One woman claimed to have given Malcolm her number on a napkin complete with a lipstick kiss. Gil would have paid a large sum of money to see that exchange.

Despite little to no sleep, snacking on small bits of food as they went from place to place, and an ungodly amount of caffeine pumping through their systems, progress was hard to come by.

Until JT burst through the conference room door, "We've got a witness that called the tip line. Says she lives behind the club and heard screaming about three days ago. Claims she saw a man hit a woman in the alley and push her up into his truck. Then drove off. Gave us a partial plate. We're running it along with the description as we speak."

"That's great news." Gil responded feeling slightly rejuvenated.

"Hopefully this is our break, boss." JT replied as he left the room and returned to the bullpen.

Gil silently prayed his detective was right.


	6. Chapter 6

WHEN MY STRENGTH FAILS, I WILL TRUST IN THE STRENGTH OF OTHERS.

After they made their agreement, Malcolm and Dani both lay down and attempted to rest. Dani fell asleep first. Malcolm listened as her breathing slowed into a deep, rhythmic pattern. The pattern was hypnotizing and he didn't notice that it was lulling him into slumber as well. For once his sleep started off peaceful, filled with nothingness, just rest. But soon, as they always did, the dreams came. The usual cast of players, however, were nowhere to be found. Instead, they were replaced with flashes of the events they'd recently endured: The sound and smell of his own burning flesh. The bone chilling smiles of their captor. The crack of Nathan's hand as he smacked Dani. "_Please, Malcolm… Not him." _Nathan's prediction, "_Her body will inevitably betray her." _Dani's tears as he'd looked down at her. "_Which part is bothering you more? The fact that you raped your partner or the fact that part of you actually enjoyed it?" _

"Ahh!" Malcolm's night terrors ended as they typically did, with him sitting up, his restraints pulled taught, sweating, and gasping for breath.

Dani was already upright across the room, "You okay?" she asked, concerned.

He ran his hands through his hair to push it back out of his eyes, "Yeah." He looked around the room trying to get a firm grasp on reality. "Did I wake you?"

"You did. But, to be fair this bed isn't exactly four-star," she joked patting the cold concrete. Malcolm actually managed a crooked grin at the humor. "You were talking in your sleep," Dani informed.

"Was I?" He was afraid of that. The last thing he wanted to do was say something that might cause her more pain.

"Yeah." She deliberated before asking, "You were dreaming about last night weren't you?"

He answered her question with another, "What makes you say that?"

"You kept saying 'I'm sorry'," she looked down at the floor, "and 'Don't cry'".

"Oh." Malcolm wasn't sure what else to say.

"Malcolm, I need to tell you something."

He raised his eyebrows, intrigued.

Dani hesitated before continuing, "Last night, when we... I wasn't crying for the reason you think I was."

"What?"

"I was crying because-" she lowered her eyes again, "because he was right. Everything he said was true." She picked at a pulled thread in her pants before looking back up at Malcolm. "Here we were, being forced to- and _he_ was sitting there watching, touching himself."

Malcolm assumed that had been the case, but his back had been to Nathan. It didn't make it any easier to hear.

"And just like he said it would… No matter how much I wanted it to be over, by the end, certain things you did, my body started reacting to. How fucked up is that?" One single tear fell down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away and took a calming breath. "When you were done, and I realized _that_ had happened, I just couldn't handle that he had been right. That _he_ somehow knew me better than _I_ did."

Malcolm stared into her eyes, wishing there was some way he could comfort her.

"That's why I cried, Malcolm. I just… feel like you should know that."

He nodded his head, grateful for her honesty. The revelation that they had experienced something similar in that moment- truthfully he wasn't sure how he felt about it. It wasn't necessarily comforting, it didn't make it better. It just _was_. He knew she must be feeling the same cocktail of anger, guilt, and shame that he was. Maybe that solidarity, however horrific, could help them.

There seemed to be an unspoken understanding between them that this would be the last time they discussed it, while they were still here at least.

Malcolm changed the subject, "Dani, if we're gonna get out of here, we have to be ready to take advantage of any opportunity we get. Pay attention to every tiny detail. If he makes a mistake, like he did earlier," his eyes were hard as stone, "we have to make him pay for it."

"Yes we do."

Gil almost spit out his entire mouth full of coffee when J.T. came bursting back into the conference room and exclaimed, "We got a hit on the partial plate, an address in Queens!"

"Let's go!"

Even as they rushed through the busy streets, sirens wailing, he couldn't get there fast enough.

When they finally pulled up to the house, J.T. practically tuck-and-rolled out of the car before Gil could get it parked. They rushed up the porch and knocked on the front door, a team of uniformed officers in tow. No one answered.

Gil knocked a second time, "NYPD. Open the door."

Still no response.

The two men stepped aside from the door and drew their weapons as the cop behind them busted through the it with a battering ram.

They made quick work of checking the first floor. Nothing. From upstairs, Gil heard an officer yell, "CLEAR!"

"Where's the basement stairs?" J.T. asked scouring the first floor again. "There's windows. There has to be a basement."

Gil gestured to all of the additional officers, "Find the basement entrance!"

Everyone immediately spread out and began searching. It took less than five minutes before one of the officers yelled from inside the kitchen pantry, "Over here!"

Gil arrived first, the officer waiting for his word to open the trap door hidden under a rug. When J.T. was at his side, Gil gave the go-ahead nod, and the two of them descended the stairs into the basement weapons pointed.

The moment they reached the bottom of the stairs, Gil's heart sank. A water heater, an a/c unit, and a metal shelf stacked with some old rusted tool boxes, that was it. The rest of the room was a dusty, cob-web covered, run-of-the-mill old basement.

"Damn it." He turned around and simply shook his head at J.T.

The detective holstered his weapon and looked at his boss. "Search the house?" he asked, his tone completely defeated.

"Search the house," Gil confirmed.

Hours passed, and Malcolm had again dozed off again. His pseudo rest was interrupted by the sound of the locks turning. Dani sat up as Malcolm tried to mentally brace for whatever tortures Nathan had prepared for him. He knew he was going to pay for that tackle in some way. What he wouldn't give for that swing to have actually connected.

Nathan entered the basement lugging a wide, shallow plastic tub with a lid. As he sat it down in the middle of the room, and returned to the doorway, Malcolm heard the sloshing of it's contents. _Water_, his mind immediately started running through the possibilities. Dani was clearly doing the same thing.

The door closed and Nathan crossed the room to the wooden table, crouching down and lifting part of the sheet that covered the lower shelf. He emerged with a small box, a car battery, and some cords and laid them on the table. His second visit to the shelf yielded rope and a large sponge, which he immediately threw into the tub. Malcolm could feel his heartbeat in his throat. It had taken him all of two seconds to figure out Nathan's plan. He glanced quickly at Dani, whose eyes were frantic, as she too knew exactly what was about to happen.

Nathan began connecting some of the wires to the box, and in turn connecting the opposite ends to the car battery. Next, he turned his attention to the pile of rope. It couldn't have been more than three feet long. He began manipulating one end, creating a small noose, and did the same to the other. Afterward, he walked to the center of the room, where the tub lay open on the floor, and draped the rope over one of the thicker wooden beams above it. He held on to both ends and pulled himself up off of the ground, testing the strength of both the beam and the rope. When his feet returned to the ground, Nathan wiggled his eyebrows at Malcolm, the excitement radiating off of him was palpable.

"I'm assuming you've put two and two together, given your profession," Nathan's tone was casual as he began unwinding a longer cord. "And that you know what this is, then," he continued as he connected the new cord to the box.

"It's a picana," Malcolm's voice sounded much stronger than he felt. "Electroshock device created specifically for the purpose of torture. Outlawed in almost every country in the world."

"That it is," Nathan returned, reverently. "Truly a thing of beauty," he stared at it appreciatively for a moment longer.

Then, to Malcolm's horror, Nathan started walking toward Dani.

"What are you doing?" Malcolm asked, panicked, rising to his knees. Nathan looked over his shoulder at him and simply grinned. Then he unlocked Dani's shackles and pulled her up by the arm.

"Wait!" Malcolm begged as the two began walking toward the center of the room. "Please, take me!"

Dani paused at the tub, preparing to step in. Nathan let her stop for a moment, then shoved her past it. They continued walking across the room until they reached Malcolm, who stared up at them both in confusion. Nathan chuckled and spoke directly to Malcolm, "Relax, hero. You know my methods. When have I ever tortured the females?" He pulled his gun from his back again, cocked it, and pressed it against Dani's temple. "This is my insurance. In case you continue to have delusions of grandeur." He held out the key to Dani, "Uncuff' him."

She obeyed. Once Malcolm was freed he waited for instructions, afraid any movement might spook Nathan. "Up," he commanded, wrapping his arm around Dani. "Walk."

Malcolm did as he was instructed and waited next to the tub of water.

"Shirt off," Nathan moved himself and Dani to face Malcolm as he removed the required clothing. "Get in."

The water was warm. For whatever reason this surprised Malcolm.

Nathan directed his next command to Dani as he gestured to the rope, "Restrain him."

Dani approached the tub slowly. Malcolm showed no weakness. He pre-raised his left arm to make it easier for her. She slipped the rope over his hand and tugged on the knot until it was slightly snug on his wrist.

"I'm not a fool. Tighter."

Dani tightened the rope in defeat and continued to the other arm. Malcolm was watching her intently. As she tightened the second loop she gave the uninjured side of his forearm a tiny squeeze. He didn't quite know the meaning behind it but it was comforting nonetheless. He returned with the best "thank you" look he could manage as she stepped back. Malcolm pulled at the rope above him, his arms were secured almost a foot above his head.

Nathan kept the gun raised as he took the two steps toward the table and turned on the control box. As he toyed with the controls, he returned the gun into the back waistband of his pants. "Alright," he adjusted the dials on the front while narrating his thought process, "We want low amperage; that's what'll kill ya." He glanced back at Malcolm, clearly looking to elicit a response. Malcolm gave him none. "Start with 30 milliamps. But the voltage, that's where the fun begins. We'll lead off with 20,000 just to be safe." He picked up what looked like a cattle prod and it began to hum with energy.

Malcolm eyed the device, his arms already starting to lose feeling. _Well, this is going to hurt._ He tried to prepare himself for the impending pain.

Nathan couldn't resist being the one to test it first. "How about a dry run?" Malcolm stared him down, refusing to show any fear. He teased Malcolm a few places here and there before connecting for only a second with the middle of his abdomen.

There was no preparing for the pain. White hot fire burned through his torso. Even with such a short period of contact, Malcolm's entire body went rigid. His head jerked backward. When Nathan retracted the prod, Malcolm was left panting for breath.

"Not bad," Nathan noted. "You didn't even scream." Once again he examined Malcolm for signs of suffering. "That will change." He turned to Dani. "Wet him with the sponge."

"What?" For a moment she was genuinely confused at the request.

"Get the sponge, and wet him with it!"

Dani retrieved the sponge from the tub, "Where?" she asked.

"Torso. Back."

Dani ran the sponge over Malcolm's chest, "More water than that. Dripping," Nathan demanded. She corrected her error, continued to his stomach, then did the same to his back, frequently dipping the sponge in the water as she went. She moved as slowly as she could, trying to give Malcolm some extra time. His pants were drenched by the time she had finished. Before Dani could throw the sponge back in the tub, Nathan added, "And his head."

"You touch his head and you'll kill him," she argued.

"Wet his fucking head!" Nathan yelled. Dani dipped the sponge into the water, lifted it over Malcolm's head and twisted it. "Again," Nathan ordered. She complied, saturating his head and hair.

Malcolm shook his head in an effort to get some of the water out of his eyes. His sodden hair fell forward, partially covering his face.

"You know what water does to an electric current," Nathan taunted Malcolm as he handed the device to Dani. "Until I say," he warned.

She took the prod from Nathan, her hands shaking, "Where?"

"Same place."

Dani took the step forward toward Malcolm. He looked at her through the curtain of wet hair and nodded trying his best to be strong for her. She touched the picana to his skin and held it.

Again, Malcolm's body jerked and went completely rigid. This time the fire was far worse, searing. All the air left his lungs in an agonizing scream.

Five tortuous seconds later, Nathan finally said, "Good," giving permission for Dani to stop.

Malcolm's head immediately dropped and hung low. His legs were almost too weak to hold him. He was desperately gasping for air.

Tears spilled out of Dani's eyes as she watched Malcolm's response to the shock.

"Okay. That's our control," Nathan stated, comparing the electroshock to a scientific experiment. "Now we compare." He walked to the control box and moved the left dial. "Keep the amps the same. Voltage up to 30,000."

Dani's eyes were wide with terror as Nathan ordered, "Again. Keep it below the chest."

Dani objected, "Give him a minute."

"Now!" Nathan bellowed.

Dani hesitated. Malcolm tried to reassure her. He was still gasping between words. "As long as he keeps the amps low, it's unlikely to kill me, Dani. It's about the intensity of the pain, not the intent to kill."

"I won't say it again," Nathan warned. Dani reluctantly obeyed.

Malcolm's scream was even more blood-curdling than before. His breathing was more frenzied. Even after the shock was over, his body was shaking uncontrollably.

Nathan investigated Malcolm's reactions, "Now that is interesting."

"Bring me the picana," he held his hand out to Dani.

"Give him a minute. Please!"

"Bring it here!" He pulled his gun again and pointed it at Malcolm, ensuring Dani wouldn't attempt to shock him. She handed it over and he returned the gun to its place in the back of his waistband. Nathan went to the controls and adjusted the right dial. "I think we can risk 50 milliamps. For science."

"You can't!" Dani pleaded, "You're going to kill him!"

He pointed at Dani and brought his finger back to his lips, telling her to be quiet. Then he returned to Malcolm, who could barely hold himself up. "Look at me," he ordered, lifting Malcolm's head forcibly so he could see his eyes, all the while aiming the prod at his chest. "This is for that stunt you pulled earlier."

Malcolm's voice was a raspy, snark-infested, groan, "You mean when I tackled you and we almost escaped because you made an incredibly stupid mistake?"

Before Nathan could lurch forward, Dani pulled the gun from his waistband and pointed it at the back of his head, "Back away slowly," she demanded.

Malcolm could barely hold his own head up. His eyes were only partially open as they darted between the Dani and their captor.

Nathan took a second to assess the situation, "You know, I don't think I will. If you shoot me at this angle you're bound to blow through me and hit him too."

He was right. _Fuck._ She had been so focused on simply grabbing the gun.

Dani moved in closer behind Nathan and wrapped the gun around his head until it was under his chin pointing up. "How about now?"

"I was hoping you'd do that," Nathan replied as he whipped his head in reverse, knocking Dani back with the force of the blow. Before she could recover, Nathan jabbed the picana into Malcolm's chest.

"NO!" Dani screamed as she aimed the gun at Nathan's leg and fired. But the damage was done.

As soon as the prod touched his chest, Malcolm's eyes popped open wider than Dani had ever seen. His lips spread in a horrifying soundless scream, as his body lifted up onto the tips of his toes, entirely stiff.

And then, like a marionette that had been hung up on a hook, Malcolm went completely limp.


	7. Chapter 7

WHEN DARKNESS ENGULFS ME, I WILL KNOW I AM NOT ALONE.

Nathan dropped the picana on the ground, when the bullet hit his thigh. He yelled out in pain and lunged at Dani. She was completely distracted by Malcolm's terrifying response to the shock. He wrestled the gun away from her before she realized what was happening. Then he got up, hobbled over to the table, yanked the picana cord from the control box and wrapped it around his upper thigh in an attempted tourniquet. He grabbed the control box and the car battery and limped toward the door.

"You're going to pay for that, bitch," Nathan spat. Then he slammed the door and latched the locks.

Dani was up in an instant and ran to Malcolm's limp body. She released one wrist from the knot and draped his arm over her shoulder. Freeing the second wrist without dropping him was far trickier, however she managed to awkwardly catch him and lay him down next to the tub. She placed her fingers on the side of his neck under the jaw; he had no pulse.

Frantic, Dani began CPR on her partner, putting all of her weight into each push. She counted to thirty, bent his head back slightly, and gave two breaths, immediately returning to compressions. "Malcolm!" she yelled as she pushed, "Please! Don't do this, Malcolm!" Two breaths. "Come on! Please, please!" again, putting all of her strength into the compressions. "No, no, no, no. Come on!" Two breaths.

Malcolm lay there lifeless, as Dani refused to give up. Anger began to consume her as the continued compressions with renewed vigor. Anger at Nathan, anger at herself, "Don't leave me. You can't leave me." She was in a full panic now as she pushed his chest violently, "WAKE UP!"

Malcolm's whole body lurched, his chest heaved as he gasped for as much air as he could possibly inhale. His arms were searching for something, anything to grab ahold of; they found Dani's arm. "It's okay. It's okay. You're okay," she assured him. Malcolm's eyes were wild as he tried to figure out where he was. He was still gulping air.

"Dani?" he asked, between gasps.

"Yeah. It's me," she smiled, tears running down her face.

"What happened?"

"What do you remember?" she began.

"I remember him aiming the prod," Malcolm pieced the details together one at a time, "You got his gun," he said looking up at her. "What happened after that?"

"He head butted me, pushed the prod to your chest, and I shot him in the leg."

"How bad?"

"Non-lethal. Unfortunately. I'm guessing he's picking a bullet out of his thigh as we speak." Malcolm lay back on the floor, trying to return his breathing to normal. A minute passed as he did this, and Dani was not-so-subtly checking every move he made to make sure he was okay.

"I'm sorry, Malcolm," her voice was a whisper.

"For what?" he lifted his head up, bewildered.

"I had him. I had his gun at the back of his fucking head and somehow I screwed it up."

"At least you injured him. I couldn't even manage to do that," Malcolm flashed a half smile. "Although given the past four days, I'd say we should be allotted a certain margin of error." He pushed himself into a seated position, grimacing.

"Easy," Dani warned. She was still crying as she lifted her eyes to Malcolm's, "I thought- I thought you were dead."

"I think, technically, I was," he replied.

Dani rolled her eyes, got up, and retrieved his button up. "Here," she helped him put it on and sat down beside him, facing him. He didn't bother trying to button it.

Malcolm reached over and put his hand on hers. "You saved my life. Thank you." He absent-mindedly traced circles on her hand with his thumb.

"If you ever scare me like that again, I'll kill you myself," she grinned. Malcolm chuckled. But the enormity of what had just happened ate at them like a disease and the laughter was replaced with fear at what repercussions were in store. They continued to stare at one another for a minute. Then, as they had before in a vastly different situation, they rested their foreheads together, closed their eyes, and attempted to slowly breathe away the trauma.

After a few breaths, they could hear Nathan at the door.

"Help me up," Malcolm whispered.

Dani pulled him to his feet, "Can you stand on your own?'

"No clue. But _he_ doesn't have to know that."

Dani gingerly let him go. He swayed a bit, but remained upright.

Nathan returned to the room in a fit of rage, open switchblade in hand. _Knife not gun. He's worried Dani might get his weapon again_, Malcolm thought proudly. He slammed the door and marched with a purpose toward the duo. Dani casually positioned herself between him and Malcolm. Based on the square cut into the thigh of his pants, and the makeshift bandage under it, she had been right. Nathan had been upstairs removing the bullet from his leg.

What was unsettling was how quickly he was moving on the recently injured leg.

_Pain pills don't kick in that fast,_ Malcolm thought, _he's on something stronger. _

Nathan approached the two of them quickly. Neither of them backed down from him. When he was a foot away from Dani he paused, and shifted his gaze from her to Malcolm. "Well, well, well. He is risen," Nathan opened his arms in a sacrilegious mockery of the crucifixion. The knife in his right hand adding to the farce. Malcolm stared daggers into his captor. He held himself as still and straight as he could, to feign strength he was sorely lacking. In response to Nathan's jest, he tilted his head slightly sideways and raised his eyebrows. "I have to ask, what was it like… death?"

"If you really want to know…" Malcolm left the threat open-ended.

Nathan simply smiled, "I truly enjoy your tenacity, Malcolm. So many of the others just broke down, begged me to spare their women, lost their minds at the slightest inkling of torture. But you- you literally _died_! And yet," he gestured the way a salesman might show off a new car.

"And yet," agreed Malcolm.

Nathan returned his focus to Dani and pointed at his leg, "I just pulled my own bullet out of my thigh. That was _unpleasant_."

"So was dying," Malcolm retorted. Nathan's eyes shifted to him for only a second before going back to Dani.

Without warning Nathan lifted his arm and brought it down, backhanding Dani so hard that she fell to the floor. Malcolm knelt next to her sweeping her hair from her face and examining the damage. A small drop of blood dripped from her bottom lip.

"I'm fine," she said, as the two of them stood again.

Nathan pointed the knife at Dani, it's tip less than an inch from her eye, but he was looking at Malcolm. "Don't move," he ordered. His next command was for Dani as he walked behind her, "Arms." She put her arms behind her as Nathan pulled zip ties from his back pocket and bound her wrists together. He shoved her roughly to her knees and zip-tied her ankles together behind her also.

_You _should_ be scared of her, _Malcolm mused.

As Nathan got up and walked to the door, Malcolm was analyzing every detail of their situation, trying to find something, any mistake that might aid them. When he saw Nathan reappear with the picana and car battery, his blood ran cold. Their captor made short work of reconnecting the appropriate cords, but waited to turn the machine on. He spun around at the table, facing his two prisoners. "Get in," he ordered Malcolm, gesturing once more to the tub of water.

"You can't be serious," Dani said in disbelief.

Malcolm stared emotionlessly at Nathan. "I'm not getting back in that tub," he answered defiantly.

"Oh, I think you will." Nathan walked leisurely over to Dani, knife in hand, bent down, and ran its edge across her upper arm.

Dani hissed, holding in the scream she wanted to release. Blood began to trickle slowly down her arm.

Malcolm's eyes darted back and forth between the two of them, trying to weigh the outcomes. If he got back in the tub, it would only take a few shocks at best for Nathan to stop his heart again. He would bar Dani from reviving him and she would have to watch him die, again, leaving her alone with the sadist. If he refused to get in the tub, Nathan would continue doing god knows what to Dani until he complied, anyway.

"Get in," Nathan calmly ordered Malcolm a second time. When Malcolm still hesitated, Nathan crouched down behind Dani and wrapped his arm around her head, pulling it back. He raised the knife and put it to her throat, pricking just enough of the skin to cause a tiny trail of blood.

Malcolm's deliberation was over. "Okay. OKAY!" he agreed, his hands up in submission.

"Malcolm, don't!" Dani begged. But he slowly stepped back into the water. Nathan stood and went to him.

"It's going to be okay, Dani," he reassured her, as Nathan tightened the slipknots around his wrists.

"It's NOT going to be okay! He's going to kill you!"

Nathan went to the table and turned the machine on, adjusting the dials. He returned to his prisoner, prod buzzing. Malcolm looked down at Dani. If he was going to die, he wanted her to be the last thing he saw. Her eyes met his, tears spilling out of them. Nathan leaned in toward Malcolm.

"Wait!" implored Dani. "Wait! Do it to me!"

"No," Malcolm firmly replied, changing his focus to Nathan.

Nathan didn't even turn to look at her when he responded, "I told you I don't torture women, does nothing for me." He inched the picana closer to Malcolm.

"But you do other things to them," Dani said baiting him.

Malcolm's head whipped in her direction.

Nathan paused for a beat, then bent his head toward her, "I'm listening."

"Not happening," Malcolm demanded.

"Shut up," Nathan replied. His demeanor instantly changed at Dani's comment, there was a predatory hunger behind his eyes. "What exactly did you have in mind?" he asked her.

"Whatever you want," Dani offered, "But the shocks stop."

"Absolutely not. Dani, no."

Nathan's eyes roamed up and down her body, as she sat on her knees, already defiling her with just his gaze. Malcolm tried to regain Nathan's attention using reverse psychology, "You're seriously going to let her control you like that? She bats her lashes at you once and she owns you? You didn't profile as a submissive."

Nathan fell for the deterrent and hesitated turning back toward him.

Dani interrupted, "Malcolm-"

"Be quiet," he replied, coldly.

"No. I'm not going to watch you die a second time." She held her ground.

Nathan disrupted their spat, "Enough." He closed the distance to Dani and bent down. "I would love to wreak havoc on every inch of that body." He slid his hand up Dani's waist and fondled her breast over her shirt.

"Get your hands off her!" Malcolm growled.

Nathan stood and strolled the three paces back to the tub, prod still in hand, lifting it up toward Malcolm's chest. "However, watching you… how you completely flipped the switch on her and just… it was animalistic. It was erotic. I bet you're still trying to deal with that aren't you, Malcolm," he tapped his head with his index finger, "up here."

Malcolm jerked his head away from his hand.

"That was new for me too. I never would have thought that watching could be just as enjoyable as doing, but that was… intense."

Malcolm had heard enough, "No."

"What?" Nathan was amazed.

"I said, no."

Dani was just as shocked as Nathan, "Malcolm?"

"Seriously?" Nathan was so astonished it actually threw him off a little. "You would rather get shocked again, than fuck her?"

Malcolm's glare was unyielding.

Dani was incredulous, she directed her words to Nathan, "We'll do it."

"No, we won't," Malcolm quipped.

"What do you mean 'No, we won't'? Malcolm, this is insane!"

"I mean, I refuse." He looked at her. She could see the turmoil in his eyes. "I won't do that to you again, Dani. I can't."

"So you'd risk dying instead?!"

"YES!"

His reply stunned her into silence.

Nathan processed the conversation for a moment, and focused on Malcolm. "You've surprised me, Malcolm. I'm genuinely surprised. But, fine." He turned off the picana and sat it down.

Malcolm didn't understand, until Nathan headed toward Dani. Then he realized. _He's taking her deal_. Dani had figured it out too. Her face was a mixture of relief and dread that Malcolm had never seen before.

Nathan came to a stop behind her and used the knife to cut off the zip ties. As he lifted her to her feet Dani looked up at Malcolm.

"It's okay," she reassured him. Nathan buried his face in her neck, his hand snaked around from behind to her stomach. Malcolm watched as his fingertips grazed the skin between Dani's shirt and pants.

Malcolm's stomach lurched. _"Please, Malcolm… Not him."_

"Okay," he said.

Nathan lifted his head, but kept it on Dani's shoulder. "What was that?" he asked, a smirk spreading across his face.

"I'll do it."

Nathan kissed Dani's neck and pulled her close, pressing himself into her back. "Lucky, Malcolm," he whispered into her ear.

He put the knife to the other side of her neck and nudged her forward. "Get him out," Nathan told her, once they reached Malcolm. Dani loosened the ties and he shook his arms as the blood flow returned to them. He looked to Nathan for instructions on which way he was going. "Your place," Nathan mocked, "Then pants off." Malcolm led them to his corner of the room.

When they arrived, Malcolm removed his pants and knelt. Nathan motioned for Dani to fetter his wrists yet again. After she was finished, Nathan made his way back to the table, his VIP seat to the show.

Dani removed her pants as well and knelt in front of Malcolm. She immediately closed the distance between them. "Thank you," she said, as she kissed him softly.

"I'm sorry," he replied, when their kiss broke.

Dani kissed the side of his neck that wasn't facing Nathan and whispered into his ear, "He doesn't get to win this time. We've earned an escape. No guilt. No shame. Just feel." She kissed him again, deeper this time, and then pulled back to read his response to her words. He gave none, and simply stared into her eyes for a moment.

She repeated herself, "Just feel," and aligned her body with his wrapping her hands around his neck. Malcolm placed his arms on her waist and touched his forehead to hers. The gesture had become sacred over the past four days. Then, he leaned his head in and kissed her. When he did so, every emotion he had felt in the past four days came rushing out of him. Pain, anger, guilt, shame, desire, each of them combined forces into a kiss that, even given their circumstances, stirred something in Dani. After a few moments she pushed him softly backward, and he lay down. She removed her underwear swiftly, as Malcolm did the same, and crawled on top of him.

Dani bent over, her hands bracing herself on his chest, and kissed him again. He wrapped his arms around her trying to forget where he was. Before Nathan could say something to shatter the bubble, Dani sat up slightly, found the right position, and lowered herself onto Malcolm slowly. He grabbed her head and brought her lips to his and she began rocking back and forth in a rhythm. Occasionally they would hear Nathan, but before he could break the spell Dani would find a way to regain Malcolm's attention. "Don't think. Just feel," she said. He watched her above him. She was breathtakingly beautiful on a regular day, but this… The way her tongue felt on his, the way she moved her body, her face as the pleasure kept building, she was a goddess.

They had kept rather quiet throughout; whether that was a conscious decision due to Nathan's presence or not was anyone's guess. Then, as he was watching her move on him, Dani couldn't suppress a faint moan. The sound almost sent Malcolm over the edge. He sat up instantly, keeping her on his lap, wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her onto him with just enough force to intensify the pleasure. He met her rhythm with his own and it didn't take long before he felt her climax wash over her. That in turn brought his, and he held her against him as he finished. They sat there for a moment relishing in the euphoria, desperately trying to prolong their break from reality.

It had been four hours since Gil and JT had arrived at the house. Their team was still scouring every inch of the house for clues, and they were currently neck deep in financial records and personal journal entries. JT yawned as he examined the stack of financial records. Gil was on the third journal since he had sat down and the lines were starting to blur together. He shook his head to wake himself up.

JT leaned in closer to the packet of paperwork. "Boss, I might have something here," he waved for Gil to come over. "Just under a year ago. That's an awful lot of money to just 'gift' to a friend for 'services rendered."

"Yeah, it is. Contact info?"

"Already on it." JT headed into the bullpen to do some research. Gil made himself another cup of coffee and returned to the journals.

A little less than an hour later JT returned.

"Finally tracked down the 'friend'. Money was for a one room cabin just outside the catskills. Says the guy who bought it was, and I quote 'super creepy, but I needed the cash'."

"Got an address?"

"Yep. It's a little over two hours out. TAC team is suiting up as we speak." JT was almost out of the room before he turned back to Gil, "I think we found 'em, Boss."

"Now we just have to get there in time."


	8. Chapter 8

I AM STRONGER WHEN SURROUNDED BY THOSE WHO I LOVE

Malcolm's arms, burdened with the weight of the chains confining them, were wrapped around Dani, as he held her to him. They hadn't moved an inch since they'd finished. Dani nestled her head on his collarbone refusing to leave the sanctuary of the moment they had just shared. He placed a long kiss on her forehead, reluctantly becoming more and more aware of Nathan's eyes on them. Something was wrong. Malcolm could see him out of the corner of his eye; he was agitated. It took every ounce of willpower he had to unwrap his arms and force Dani back to reality as well, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to happen with Nathan. For that, they would need pants.

When he loosened his arms, she looked up at him. He swept the hair out of her face and held her head in his hand, his thumb brushing her cheek. Dani leaned into his hand, and Malcolm returned the gesture with an affiliative smile.

"Well, that was… _interesting_." Nathan's tone was factual, annoyed even, nothing like it had been after the first time Malcolm and Dani were together. Dani noticed the shift too, stood, and dressed.

Malcolm did the same, as he tried to figure out the source of Nathan's discontent.

He responded as though he had heard Malcolm's thoughts. "Malcolm, you and I both know consent isn't exactly my thing. Yet there you both were, enjoying the hell out of each other."

Malcolm glanced at Dani. Both looked away quickly when their eyes met, neither of them ready to unpack the implications of what had just happened between them.

_He didn't get off watching us. He's frustrated. A sexually frustrated sadistic serial killer… This is bad._

"And now I find myself in need of a release," Nathan continued.

_This is VERY bad._

Nathan snatched Dani by the arm and pushed her roughly in the direction of her chains. Malcolm jumped immediately to his knees afraid of what Nathan had in mind. Relief washed over him as he watched Nathan re-cuff Dani and walk away from her, toward the door. He exited the room slamming it behind him.

Once he had left, Dani leaned as close to Malcolm as she could, "What's going on?"

"He's angry because he couldn't… finish while watching us. We didn't exactly adhere to his preferences." Again, at the mention of their interaction, each of them broke eye contact.

"So does that mean he's coming back in here looking for something sexual or something sadistic? Or both?"

"I have no idea."

A short time later, they got their answer. Nathan returned with a plastic bag in his hand, it's contents too small to identify, and sat it on the table. From the covered shelf beneath the table he pulled two sets of leather medical restraints, and he set to work wrapping the appropriate portions around the table and securing them. When he'd finished, he unchained Malcolm and extended his arm, "After you." Malcolm stopped at the side of the table, awaiting instructions. As he did, he took note of the plastic bag's cargo: fishing line and a curved needle.

_Oh good. I'm going to need stitches._

"Shirt," Nathan commanded. Malcolm instinctively reached to unbutton his shirt, having completely forgotten it had been undone since Dani revived him earlier. He shrugged it off and onto the floor, and got on the table. Once he lay back, he placed his wrists in the restraints and Nathan secured them. Then, Nathan continued to the large belt at Malcolm's knees; he tightened it as well.

_Knees, not ankles. That has to be significant._

"How does that feel?" Nathan asked his voice dripping with faux concern.

Malcolm couldn't resist, "I _literally _sleep in these on a nightly basis. If you're trying to intimidate me, providing all the comforts of home isn't the first place I'd start."

Nathan's smirk fell, "Noted." He crossed to the other side of the room and released Dani, leading her back to Malcolm. Nathan stood at the head of the table, with Dani at the side, and indicated that she should scoot closer. Once she had, Nathan pulled his knife out of his pocket and opened it dramatically. To Dani's surprise, he flipped the the blade in his hand and extended the handle toward her. Her stomach dropped, as she took the weapon from him.

Malcolm surveyed the knife for a moment, then Dani, then turned his gaze to the ceiling above him. _You can handle this. You've been stabbed before. They're going to stitch you up. As long as they miss vital organs, you're fine. It's just pain. It's just pain. _He wasn't sure how much of his own pep talk he was buying, but it occupied his mind at least.

Dani stared at the blade in her trembling hand, as Nathan pulled a second knife from his pocket and opened it before breaking the silence. "In case you're thinking about using that on me," he brought his knife down and lightly touched Malcolm's throat. "Let's start off simple. Cut him."

Dani didn't look at Nathan as she asked, "Where?" She was focused on Malcolm's reaction to their captor's response.

"Dealer's choice," Nathan replied.

Malcolm continued to study the open ceiling, the knots in each piece of wood, the cobwebs as they moved slightly with the air. He saw Dani move out of the corner of his eye, she'd chosen the top of his left arm, just below the deltoid. She pressed on the knife until it broke the skin and immediately stopped. Nathan tilted his head and glared at her, irritated. "This is the only time I'm going to tell you this. More."

Dani lowered her head in defeat, put the knife back on the open cut, and continued the motion. Malcolm inhaled loudly and deeply, but remained otherwise quiet. Blood seeped out of the incision in little trails that dripped down the back of Malcolm's arm and onto the table.

"Not bad. We can do better than that I think," Nathan coached. "Again, his side this time."

Dani tried to avoid the rib cage and picked a spot at Malcolm's waist. She put her left hand on his chest both to steady herself and to try and comfort him. When the knife dug into his side, Malcolm's stomach immediately tensed. He knew that wasn't the smartest thing to do while she was still cutting, but the reaction wasn't exactly voluntary.

Dani started to lift the blade away and Nathan cleared his throat angrily. She continued to move the edge diagonally from his waist and began moving across his abdominal muscles. Again Malcolm tensed his muscles rigid. He grimaced and exhaled forcefully.

_It's just pain. It's just pain. _

Dani pulled the knife away from Malcolm's stomach, half afraid Nathan would argue. The wound on Malcom's waist and stomach was deeper than the one on his arm. Blood had started to pool on his abs. Nathan was entranced as he watched the wound bleed. Each time Malcolm took a breath the blood would spill down his side onto the table.

Malcolm closed his eyes and breathed slowly.

"How does that feel?" Nathan repeated, sarcastically.

Malcolm opened his eyes and looked at him. "It's great. Thank you," he countered.

Nathan laughed and patted him on the chest appreciatively. "It's good you're in such high spirits, Malcolm." He turned to Dani, the laughter instantly vanishing from his face, "Stab him."

"What?" She gasped.

"Take the knife in your hand, and stab him with it."

"If I hit the wrong spot he could die."

"Then don't hit the wrong spot."

Dani looked to Malcolm, her eyes searching for guidance. He slowly closed his own once again.

_God damn it._

"Malcolm?" Her voice sounded like a little lost child.

He opened his eyes and paused for a second, outraged at the fact that he was going to have to choose the location of his own stab wound. "AaaaaAHHH!" Both Dani and Nathan jumped and his frustrated yell.

Nathan recovered quickly. "You have 5 seconds before I stab him myself," he threatened. "Five… Four…"

"Malcolm, where?" Dani begged.

_Fuck. _He tried to think of the location least likely to hit an organ.

"Three..." Nathan adjusted the knife in his hands, ready to strike.

"Malcolm?!"

"Lower left abdomen, away from center, below navel line." Malcolm was taking quick, deep breaths in preparation, as Dani found the spot with the knife.

"Two…"

"JUST DO IT, DANI!" Malcolm screamed.

"One…"

Dani plunged the blade into the spot he had chosen. Just like they had when he was shocked, Malcolm's eyes shot open. This time his scream was anything but soundless. Malcolm wailed as he pulled at his restraints with every ounce of strength he had. Then he laid his head back and tried to breath his way through the pain.

Dani knew that you were supposed to leave the knife in place, if you were seeking medical attention. They did not have that luxury. There was already a significant amount of blood exiting the wound with the knife still inside. "Malcolm! Knife out or in?" she asked.

Malcolm's grunted response was directed toward Nathan, "That baggie for me?"

Nathan nodded, enthralled with the scene playing out before him.

"Out, Dani," he groaned.

Dani wrapped her hand around the knife, "Do you want me to count?"

"No, thank you. Please, just get it out!"

She pulled the blade out in one swift motion and dropped it on the table next to Malcolm, immediately regretting their decision. They had nothing prepared to stop the bleeding as it proceeded to pour out of his torso. Dani panicked and pressed both of her hands on the wound to try and stop the outpour.

"My shirt!" Malcolm reminded her. Dani ran to retrieve it, as Nathan stood there staring at Malcolm, relishing in the pain and the chaos.

When Dani turned to rush back to the other side of the table, she was stopped dead in her tracks by the single greatest sound she had ever heard: A thunderous knock on the basement door, followed by Gil's voice yelling "NYPD. OPEN THIS DOOR NOW!"

Malcolm whipped his head around in the direction of the door, his wound still hemorrhaging considerably. _They found us. _

"GIL!" Dani screamed as she resumed her mission back to Malcolm. She had almost reached him when she was violently jerked backward, the shirt in her hand falling to the floor. Nathan pulled her around in front of him and put his knife to her neck, the table less than a foot from them. Malcolm lay there helpless as his blood continued to cascade down his side.

Nathan yelled in the direction of the still-closed door, "It's open! But if you step foot in this room I'm slitting your girl's throat right here. Your call." Dani jerked in an attempt to free herself, "Ah, ah, ah. Don't move." Nathan responded, pressing the knife harder, drawing a fine line of blood.

"Dani, you okay?!" J.T. screamed.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

Gil responded next, "Where's Bright?"

Dani turned her head to look at him, the pool of blood on the table beneath him was now dripping onto the floor. Malcolm was fading, but still conscious. "He's here. He's lost a lot of blood. We need a medic!"

"Shut up!" Nathan warned her tightening his grip on her arm.

"Nathan this doesn't have to end like this," Gil began.

Dani slowly reached her hand back toward the table.

"Save it, cop. You know what I've done. I know what I've done. Let's not sugar coat the scenario here." Nathan returned.

She couldn't quite reach. She again jerked her body as though she was trying to escape his grip, pushing the two of them closer to the table.

Gil continued, "What do we need to do to keep this from ending in more bloodshed?" He negotiated through the door.

Dani again inched her hand back toward the table painstakingly slow, so as to not alert Nathan. She found Malcolm's restraint and gingerly opened the cuff. Then, she softly tapped the table with her finger twice and prayed with everything inside her that Malcolm understood her message.

"You know. I'm actually quite fond of bloodshed. At this point taking down two cops on my way out would be the ultimate finale to one hell of a ride." Nathan replied to Gil.

Malcolm's liberated hand found the knife laying beside him on the table and gripped it tightly.

"We're not going to let you do that, Nathan. Don't make this any harder on yourself," Gill responded.

Dani threw her head backward into Nathan's, the force of the blow sending him stumbling into the table. When he got there, Malcolm raised himself half up, his right arm still restrained, and brought the knife down between Nathan's collarbone and the top of his shoulder. Nathan's body went limp and slid to the ground.

Malcolm, too, slumped backward uncontrollably, his eyes rolling into the back of his head.

"CLEAR! GIL GET IN HERE!" Dani shouted, as she ran to Malcolm.

Gil, J.T., and the team burst into the room, medics rushing in behind them.

"Malcolm? Malcolm?" Dani urged as he fell in and out of consciousness.

Everything sounded like it was under water. _Dani? Where's Dani? _Malcolm mumbled her name multiple times before it came out coherently, "Dani?"

"I'm here. It's okay. Medics are here. We did it, Malcolm. We survived."

Malcolm huffed once and smiled, then his eyes rolled again and his head fell back on the table.


	9. Chapter 9

I WILL FIND SOLACE IN THE TRUTH.

Malcolm's eyelids felt like they were glued shut. It took a considerable amount of effort to finally separate them from each other. After all that hard work, he immediately shut them again, the light in the room practically blinding him. He squinted, and slowly acclimated to the brightness. Once he had adjusted, he fully opened his eyes again. The sounds of the hospital floated around him: the infusion pump next to his bed, the hustle and bustle outside his room, the pages for personnel.

Dani was seated next to him in a chair. Malcolm opened his mouth to say something, but his throat was on fire. She heard his movement and looked at him, a heart-warming smile covered her face, "Hey there."

Malcolm cleared his throat, "Hey."

Dani handed him the cup of water that was sitting on his tray, "Sips," she warned. He agreed with a chuckle. The cool liquid soothed his sandpaper throat. He attempted to take a few deep breaths, his chest was tight and incredibly sore.

"How are you feeling?" Dani asked.

Malcolm hadn't had the time to fully analyze that yet. He paused for a moment. Not surprisingly, his abdomen was the worst. He lifted the neckline of his hospital gown and inspected the damage. There were small patches of gauze covering the spots where the picana had touched him. Two larger ones covered the wounds from the knife. His whole torso felt like he'd been the punching bag for a prize fighter. The area around the stab wound ached, consistently throbbing with each heartbeat. He couldn't see them, but he could feel the stitches on his upper arm as the gown brushed across them. His right forearm had been redressed and wrapped as well.

"All things considered," Malcolm mused, "not that bad." He looked up at her, "What about you?"

"I'm okay," she replied. An awkward silence permeated the room, neither of them knowing what to say. After a long while, Dani spoke. "I told the doctor about all of your injuries. You were unconscious, so I'm assuming you're good with that."

He grinned, "Yeah, I'm good with that."

Dani's disposition turned somber, "They said you had a better chance of winning the lottery than you did of surviving that much blood loss, after what your heart had already been through." Her voice wavered for a second. "They were all genuinely shocked. Honestly it was a little frightening how shocked they were."

Malcolm wasn't sure how to respond to that information. He decided that that, along with so many other things from the past five days, was better dealt with another day. The mention of their captivity reminded him of Nathan.

Dani must have followed the same train of thought. She answered his unasked question, "Nathan's dead, Malcolm. The knife hit the subclavian artery. They pronounced him as soon as they got here."

Malcolm looked down at his hands for a moment, processing. He wasn't necessarily happy, but he didn't exactly feel any guilt either. In any other circumstance, the fact that he had taken someone else's life would be far more torturous. It would stir up all of the 'Am I like my father' feelings that were constantly in the back of his mind. But this didn't make him feel anything other than relieved. _Add that to the growing list of things for the therapist, _he thought.

He looked back up at Dani. "Have they taken your statement yet?"

"Not yet.I told Gil I wanted to be here when you woke up. He was pretty understanding."

Malcolm smiled, grateful that someone had been here when he woke. He considered his words for a minute before finally asking, "What do you want me to tell them?"

Dani looked at him, anguish in her eyes, and then put her face in her hands. "I don't know. I've been arguing with myself about it the whole time we've been here. The cop in me keeps saying, 'you have to tell the truth no matter how horrible'. But, I just- I can't spend the rest of my life as that cop who's partner was forced to rape her."

Malcolm flinched at the word. It wasn't wrong, but it burned the inside of his chest far worse than any of the shocks had. "Whatever you want me to say, I will," he assured her.

"They did the S.A.K. as soon as we got here. They've seen the bruises." She returned her gaze to his. "They know."

_Bruises_. He had left bruises on her. He tried to swallow, but the burning in his throat had been replaced by a lump that felt like it was going to cut off his air supply. The image of Dani having to endure the invasive procedures for the assault kit, the photos being taken of her body, after everything she'd already been through, tore at him from the inside out. He could barely breathe. "I'm so sorry, Dani," he whispered, hanging his head in shame. He wanted more than anything to be able to bear the entirety of this burden for the both of them, but he couldn't.

Dani picked at the hem of her shirt for a moment. "No matter what, we're screwed," she continued. "We either lie and risk getting caught, or tell the truth and spend the rest of our careers getting whispered about everywhere we go."

Malcolm hadn't had the time to consider what their future held, but Dani was right. If he was being honest with himself, he was surprised that in her version of the future, they were still working together. He had assumed she wouldn't be able to stomach being around him anymore. He had to figure something out for her. There had to be a solution, some way that this wouldn't haunt them, publically, for the rest of their lives.

"Wait," he said thoughtfully, "Nathan's dead."

Dani was confused, "I told you that, Malcolm."

"No. Dani. He's _dead_."

"Yes, he is. How is that relevant to this part of the conversation?"

"There's no impending trial. No need for a conviction," he paused.

"Okay…" Dani had no idea where this was going.

"They'd only have to process the S.A.K. if they needed DNA for a conviction. With Nathan gone, that's unnecessary. They're already assuming they know what happened to you based on the profile. So, let them think that."

"They'll assume it was Nathan. Close the case. And it's over."

Malcolm raised his eyebrows and nodded his head.

"What if they ask directly? We'd have to lie."

"Whatever you want to be said, I'll say it, Dani."

"Are you sure? Think about this, Malcolm. I mean really think about it. Falsifying a report is a fireable offense, at best."

"I have. If this is what you want, if this will do anything to help you cope with everything that has happened. All you have to do is say the word."

Dani deliberated for a moment staring, unfocused at Malcolm's bed.

"Is this what you want, Dani?" he asked her.

She nodded her head, "Yes."

"Okay."

* * *

Malcolm practically bounded up the front stairs of the precinct. Even though he was running on less than two hours' sleep, when he entered the bullpen of the Major Crimes Unit his face lit up like a Christmas tree. A month away from his happy place, felt like an eternity. The first half of his mandatory leave was spent attempting to recuperate from his various injuries either in bed or seated uncomfortably on his couch. The inability to sleep made that astonishingly difficult. On top of that, his night terrors were back in full force. The Surgeon and the horrors of what he had done only made the occasional appearance, though. Now, his rest was inhibited by visions from their captivity. Every time he closed his eyes he saw what he'd done to Dani, the tortures Nathan forced upon him, the moment his heart had stopped and everything faded into darkness, the way Dani felt wrapped around him. The images haunted him day and night. No escape. It was taking a substantial toll on his already weary body.

The last half of his leave was in some ways even more difficult to tolerate than the first. He started to feel much better, physically, and without that pain to distract him, all that was left was the psychological turmoil. He'd been visiting Dr. Le Deux frequently since his release from the hospital, but he was afraid she would report them if he confessed the full truth of what had happened with Nathan. It turns out, psychotherapy doesn't help much when you can't talk about the worst part of your suffering.

He missed the team. He missed the cases. He missed Dani. Shortly after they made their decision in the hospital room, Gil came in to check on Malcolm. He was overjoyed to see the profiler awake and talking. After a short chat, Gil insisted that Dani give her statement, and she said goodbye to Malcolm and left. He hadn't seen or heard from her since she exited the room, four weeks ago.

Dani's absence hurt more than any of his physical wounds ever could. She was his best friend, or at least she had been prior to everything. Twelve times during his leave he had picked up his phone with the intention to call her, but when he imagined how the conversation would go, he couldn't get past 'Hi'. What could he possibly say to her? Where could he even begin to try and attone for what he had done? The thought of seeing her today genuinely frightened him. He still had no idea what he would say to her or if she would even want to speak to him. He just needed to see her, to make sure she was okay, or as okay as they could ever be again.

He raised his hand to knock on Gil's office door. Before he could connect, it swung open and Gil almost ran into him.

"Hey! Perfect timing. We've got a body. J.T. and Dani are already en route."

For the first time in over a month, Malcolm was genuinely happy.

When they arrived on the scene, CSIs were already collecting evidence, dusting for prints, and taking copious photos of the scene. Dani was outside of the building, notepad in hand, interviewing the man who found the body. Malcolm stepped out of the car and tried to look as calm and collected as he possibly could, when internally he was nervous ball of anxiety. Dani glanced at them quickly as they walked by, but didn't speak. Given that she was mid-discussion with a witness, Malcolm didn't think anything of it.

Once they entered the warehouse, Malcolm immediately entered profiler male victim was lying on the floor, in the centre of a ten-foot inverted pentagram, his limbs extended toward the points. Malcolm leaned in as close as he could without disturbing the scene. The male had been stabbed multiple times in the torso. Malcolm's hand subconsciously touched his left side near his own stab wound. He closed his eyes. "_JUST DO IT, DANI!"_ echoed in his ears. Malcolm shook his head in an attempt to rid himself of the memory.

J.T. was standing at the bottom of the pentagram near the victim's head. Large candles were placed at each of the star's points and strange swirling symbols were drawn in black all around it. Malcolm bent down next to one of the symbols to examine it. They weren't actually drawn. They were ashes, carefully arranged into the detailed patterns.

"Satanic Ritual?" Gil asked.

"The killer certainly wants us to think that," Malcolm replied. "In reality the number of ritualistic murders in the US every year is miniscule."

'So you _don't _think this was a ritual?"

"I'm not sure yet. But statistically, the odds say no."

Malcolm walked to the opposite side of the pentagram and continued investigating the design of the symbols. As he did, another car pulled up to the warehouse. Two middle-aged men in suits stepped out of the vehicle and headed toward the warehouse entrance. Dani moved to question their presence and they flashed their badges at her, while continuing to walk. She watched them for a moment before continuing her interview.

Gil turned toward the men as they approached, "Can I help you, Gentlemen?"

The taller of the two responded, "Yes, I believe you can." He extended his hand, "I'm detective Jonathon DeMarco. This is my partner Derek Messer." The second man raised his hand in introduction.

Gil shook the detective's hand. "You here about this?" he asked, gesturing to the crime scene.

"Actually, no. We're looking for your consultant, Malcolm Bright. We were told he was on scene."

The sound of his name broke Malcolm's investigative trance. He turned his head searching for the source and slowly rose from his crouched position.

Gil turned to look at Malcolm, then back at the detectives, "That's him. What's this about?"

The men ignored Gil's question and walked past him toward Malcolm.

"Are you Malcolm Bright?"

"Yes," he replied. "What can I do for you?"

"Please turn around," Detective DeMarco requested.

"What? Why?" Malcolm replied, genuinely confused.

"You're under arrest."

Malcolm was frozen in shock. "For what?"

Gil rushed toward them. Detective DeMarco moved behind Malcolm, pulled each of his arms behind his back, and cuffed them. "For the rape of your partner, Dani Powell."


	10. Chapter 10

I WILL SHOW LOYALTY TO THOSE EARN IT

"WHAT?!" Gil's shocked, incredulous reply echoed throughout the warehouse.

The blood in Malcolm's veins turned to ice water. He could hear his heartbeat in his head like it were the drums at a concert. His vision blurred for a moment, as flashes of that night invaded his mind like a cancer, mixing with reality.

"You have the right to remain silent."

_"Please, Malcolm... Not him."_

"Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

_"You see at some point, Biology takes over."_

"You have the right to an attorney."

_"Go to another place, remember? Survive."_

"If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you."

_"Make her feel you there this time tomorrow... or I will slit her throat while you're still inside her." _Malcolm squeezed his eyes closed as hard as he could.

_"_Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?"

_"It felt good didn't it?"_

"Mr. Bright?"

_"I told you...Biology wins."_

"Mr. Bright? Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?"

He attempted to shake the images out of his head. But he knew by now that it was useless; they were never going away.

"Malcolm!" Detective DeMarco was growing impatient.

The shout pulled Malcolm free from the flashback. He craned his neck to look over his right shoulder at the detective.

_"_Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?"

"Yes." Malcolm's answer was barely audible.

Gil's face was pure shock. "Bright?" There were a thousand questions in that single word, as DeMarco nudged Malcolm forward and they began walking in the direction of the warehouse entrance. J.T. hadn't moved an inch. He stood there, mouth agape, stunned.

"Hold on," Gil had started following them. "Where are you taking him?"

"S.V.D. downtown," Detective Messer responded for his partner.

"I'll be right behind you. J.T., you handle this." He pointed at the current crime scene.

Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, yet Malcolm was positive his heart was going to burst from his chest and fly away, it was beating so quickly.

_They processed the kit. Why would they process the kit?_

They exited the warehouse entrance, passing Dani and the witness on their way to the Detectives' car. As Malcolm walked by her, handcuffed, the Detective's hand on his arm escorting him, Dani almost dropped her pen and notepad. Her mouth fell open. Malcolm kept his head down as they passed. But when they reached the car and DeMarco opened the back door, he shifted his glance up to her before he got in. Her expression was a mixture of surprise and terror that likely mirrored his own. They held the contact until DeMarco followed his eyeline, assumed the look meant something else, and shoved Malcolm into the back of the car.

Dani's hands began to tremble uncontrollably. She managed to say, "excuse me," to the witness before she started aimlessly walking, unsure of where she intended to go.

After a few steps, Gil grabbed Dani's arm, "My car. Now," he ordered. She obliged. He opened the passenger door for her and she all but collapsed into the seat, head in her hands. When Gil entered his side he started the car and immediately twisted in her direction. "You want to tell me what the hell is going on, Dani?"

She raised her head, her expression more guarded, "I need to talk to Malcolm."

"I'm not sure that's possible, or even a good idea right now. I need to know what's going on."

Dani continued to stare blankly out of the windshield, "I have to talk to him, Gil."

He sighed, and put the car in gear.

As DeMarco led him through the bullpen of the Special Victims Division headquarters, Malcolm could physically feel the stares of the other detectives. He had never been looked at with such revulsion before, such disgust. _That's not true, _his subconscious reminded him. Theirs was the same expression he'd worn every time he looked in the mirror since his release from the hospital.

They ushered him to the first interrogation room and pulled the metal chair out from under the table. Detective Messer uncuffed his right wrist. Malcolm had been in enough interrogation rooms to know to put his hands on the table so Messer could re-cuff them in front of him. The metal bracelets clanged on the steel table and the flashbacks hit him again: the feeling of Nathan shackling his wrist, the constant sound of the chains anytime he moved, the knots around his wrist as the picana shocked him. Again, he clamped his eyes shut and shook his head. DeMarco noted the action with interest.

Malcolm laced his fingers together, trying to subdue the tremors in his right hand, which had returned with a vengeance after their time spent with Nathan. Experiencing the room from this side of the table was entirely different and, quite frankly, frightening. DeMarco sat down opposite of him, file in hand, while Messer leaned against the wall close to the door. Malcolm took a slow, deep breath. Jonathon opened the file in front of him and studied the front page intently.

_Intimidation first,_ Malcolm thought. As DeMarco continued not to speak and simply flip through the contents of the file.

After a few dramatically drawn out minutes, DeMarco finally spoke. "You're a profiler." Since there was no question in the statement, Malcolm didn't feel inclined to respond. "Formerly F.B.I. Fired due to, and I quote, 'narcissistic tendencies, complex PTSD, and fear of psychotic inclinations similar to that of your father, notorious serial killer Martin Whitley aka The Surgeon'. Wow. That's… a mouthful." Malcolm resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "You worked your whole life to get out from under your father's legacy. Harvard university. Quantico. You decided to spend your life putting away people like The Surgeon. And then they fired you, all that hard work, for nothing. That must have been frustrating"

Malcolm simply stared at him and blinked. _You've got to be kidding me._

Gil and Dani arrived at the SVD building only a few minutes after Malcolm had. Gil introduced himself to one of the detectives and explained the situation. The woman left her desk and a few moments later returned with Messer.

He answered Gil's inquiry before he had a chance to ask it. "I'm sorry Lieutenant, Mr. Bright is being questioned at the moment."

"Just for a minute, please. Professional courtesy."

"I'm sorry, sir. I can't do that."

Dani had been actively staring at her feet for the entirety of the exchange, frantically racking her brain for a solution. There had to be some way she could talk to Malcolm. She stepped between Gil and the detective. "Please," she begged.

"Ma'am I'm- wait. You're Dani Powell."

She nodded.

"You're actually next on our list of people to question." Dani bit her lip and simply stared at him. "You want to talk to Malcolm? After what he did to you?" Messer seemed genuinely surprised.

Gil was actively analyzing all of Dani's reactions, especially to this question.

"Please. I need to talk to him," she pleaded.

"Well, we're mid interrogation right now. So-"

Gil interjected, "Can we watch?"

Messer eyed him for a moment, then turned back to Dani. "DeMarco's not going to filter anything. Is that something you can handle?"

Again, Dani nodded.

He looked around, as though he was trying to find someone to bail him out of this situation. No one appeared. "Okay. Follow me"

Messer opened the door to the viewing room, gestured for them to enter, then left them there to return to the interrogation. Dani crossed the room and stood in front of the one-way mirror, arms crossed. Gil gradually followed, evaluating her body language, trying desperately to put the pieces together.

Malcolm was sitting at the table, wrists cuffed, staring into the mirror he didn't know they were standing behind.

"You've been awfully stoic since we got here, Mr. Bright. Nothing you want to say?"

_Actually…_ "May I please talk to Dani?"

Behind the glass Dani shifted uncomfortably. She had to figure out a way to talk to Malcolm, to figure this out. Gil continued to slyly observe her reactions.

"You want to talk to Dani? Oh, sure! Because we always just roll the victims in here for the rapists to see again."

"I'm NOT a-" he stopped mid sentence. _Aren't you? _his subconscious replied defiantly.

"Not even buying your own story are you, Bright?" the smugness was oozing out of DeMarco's words.

"Please. I'm begging you. Let me speak to Dani. Just for one minute."

"Not gonna happen."

Malcolm laid his head face down on the table for a moment. Then raised up and massaged his temples with his fingers.

"In your statement you claimed that you were burned, electroshocked, and stabbed during your captivity with Nathan Worrell. Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"That seems like a lot for one person to endure over five days."

"It was." DeMarco furrowed his eyebrows incredulously. "If you don't believe me you're welcome to inspect the plethora of scars I'm currently sporting," Malcolm retorted.

Jonathon gestured for Malcolm to indeed show him. Malcolm huffed. He undid the cuffs of his dress shirt and pushed the sleeves of it and his suit jacket up until the handcuffs hindered him. He extended his arm across the table, indicating that the detective should push it the rest of the way. DeMarco did so, revealing Malcolm's full forearm. "These would be the burns where he forced Dani to hold a four-hundred-degree soldering iron to my skin, and 'write me a message'." The scars from the tip of the tool were still a vibrant purple, as was Dani's name near the crook of his elbow.

He pulled the sleeves back down angrily and stood up. Messer immediately moved toward him to sit him back down, but DeMarco waved him off. Malcolm jerked his dress shirt out of his pants and unbuttoned it hastily. He pulled both sides apart. "The circles would be the marks from the picana; where he made Dani shock me repeatedly. Then he got pissed that we tried to escape, upped the amps, and KILLED ME." Malcolm pulled the left side of the shirt open further. "Oh and these? These are the scars from when I was medically restrained to a torture table and Nathan forced Dani to cut me multiple times with a switchblade. Culminating in him telling her stab me. That's this one here," he gestured to the one on his lower abdomen and then began re buttoning his shirt. "Did I mention my heart almost gave out a SECOND time? You know after all the blood loss from the open stab wound and having just DIED a short while earlier." Malcolm tucked his shirt back in and threw himself heatedly back into his seat.

Gil had yet to see the marks on Malcolm in person. He had seen the photos taken when they were in the hospital, but the impact of seeing the scars first hand was far more profound. He would never be able to fully comprehend the pain Malcolm and Dani had endured. He glanced at Dani, who hadn't moved a muscle, but had silent tears rolling down her cheeks.

Detective DeMarco hesitated for a moment after Malcolm sat down. "I can't imagine what that must have been like for you to deal with."

_Intimidation first. Compassion Second. _Malcolm recited as he sat silently.

"The physical and psychological trauma that must have caused is unimaginable. And for Dani as well. You said she was the one who did all of those horrible things to you?"

_There it is. _"No. I said _Nathan_ _forced_ her to do those things to me."

"She didn't refuse?"

"Of course she refused." Malcolm knew all of this was a tactic to get a rise out of him, unfortunately he couldn't keep himself from falling for it. "He used us against each other. He put a gun to my head and told her to comply or he would shoot. So she did."

"Still though, all of that pain inflicted by your own partner…"

Malcolm glared at DeMarco.

"Wasn't there some small part of you that resented her? For being the one to torture you over and over?"

"No."

"Part of you didn't want to return just a tiny bit of that pain? To make her understand how it felt?"

"Absolutely not."

"Get a moment alone with her. Maybe leave her with some bruises to match your scars?"

_Fuck you._

"Force her to endure some of that psychological trauma you'd been dealing with?"

"NO!"

"Relieve some of the pent up stress of captivity. Make Dani feel as used as you did. That's why you raped her isn't it?"

"I DIDN'T-" again the rest of the sentence choked off in Malcolm's throat.

DeMarco flew out of his seat and leaned over the table. "Then explain to me why yours is the _only_ DNA the kit found! Not the serial killer-rapist's. YOURS!"

Malcolm fell silent. He stared at the table, trembling in frustration and anger.

DeMarco continued, "DNA doesn't lie, Malcolm. The samples they took from Dani for the S.A.K. match your blood from the table 100%. Explain that to me."

"I can't," Malcolm whispered.

"Can't, you don't know? Or can't, you won't explain it?"

"I just need to talk to Dani."

"And I told you that's not going to happen. You had better start cooperating, Bright. If you don't you're about to spend a very long time in prison."

Malcolm stared at the table again, considering his predicament. After an extensive pause, he nodded to himself.

_My penance. _

He raised his head, looked DeMarco in the eyes and said, "If you're not going to let me speak to Dani, then you might as well take me there now. I'm through talking." 

Dani watched as DeMarco pushed Malcolm to what she was sure would be his breaking point. When he'd accused him of raping her for revenge, she'd almost punched the glass in front of her. Malcolm's face was half rage at the accusation and half despair at the partial truth it contained. He was being tortured all over again, all to help her. Dani brought one hand up to her forehead to cover her face, as her silent tears turned to sobs. Gil wrapped his arms around her and she fell into the hug, continuing to break down.

"Talk to me, Dani. I'm begging you. Please, talk to me." Gil was terrified of what she might reveal, but the unknown was even worse.

When DeMarco threatened Malcolm with prison, Dani jerked out of Gil's embrace. _No, _she thought. Then she heard Malcolm's response to the threat, "... you might as well take me there now. I'm through talking."

He would go to jail before he betrayed her trust. She gently placed her hand on the glass in front of her, as though she expected Malcolm to walk over and place his there as well.

DeMarco was furious at Malcolm's response, "The guilty always resort to silence." He motioned for Messer to get Malcolm, "You want to spend the next ten to fifteen locked up? Fine. We'll start right now."

Messer jerked Malcolm up out of the chair by his arm. He uncuffed one of Malcolm's wrists again and re-cuffed them behind his back, shoving him toward the door.

"You're going to regret this moment, Malcolm," DeMarco warned as he opened the door for them to leave. When he opened it he started, surprised.

Dani was standing in the doorway.


	11. Chapter 11

I WILL FIND A WAY TO SURVIVE, TO BE AT PEACE.

"Dani?" Malcolm was baffled.

_What's she doing here?_ Then a frightening thought crossed his mind, _Did she tell them to process the kit?_

He and the detectives were frozen in place. No one expected there to be someone standing in the doorway, much less her. Gil came running up behind her, from the direction of the viewing room.

_They've been watching, _Malcolm noted. He stared at Dani's face for a moment, searching for some inkling as to what was going on. Her eyes were red, her cheeks slightly damp. She'd been crying. Malcolm completely forgot his surroundings and rushed toward her, to comfort her.

DeMarco intervened and threw Malcolm into the wall by the door, his forearm against Malcolm's throat, pinning him. "I don't think so, Bright. You're done hurting her."

"I'm not trying to hurt her," Malcolm croaked from under the pressure on his windpipe.

"He's right," Dani added.

Both Malcolm and Demarco's heads whipped in her direction. The detective gradually pulled his arm back and both men stared at her bewildered.

"I need to talk to Malcolm, please. Alone," Dani requested.

"With all due respect detective, I can't allow that," DeMarco responded.

Dani pursed her lips, contemplating. Then she entered the room and faced Malcolm. This was the first time since she left the hospital that afternoon that they had been in the same room together, that Malcolm had even spoken to her. There were an infinite amount of things he wanted to say to her, yet he couldn't manage to find his own voice. All he could do was stand there against the wall, hands cuffed behind him, and stare into her eyes, hoping the words he wanted to say to her would somehow transfer into the correct gaze. After a few moments, Dani broke the spell and spoke.

"It's gone too far, Malcolm. I can't let you do this." She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "We have to tell them."

Malcolm lowered his head and nodded in agreement.

Dani and Malcolm were seated on the same side of the table, Messer and DeMarco opposite them notepads and paperwork ready. There was a chair for Gil on the end, but he ignored it and chose to pace behind the detectives. Dani looked over at Malcolm, his arms extended forward on the table, still bound.

"Can you please uncuff him?" She asked.

"That all depends on what we're about to hear," DeMarco answered.

"Fine." Dani took a slow, deep breath before she bagan. "Most of the original statements we gave are true. All the details about the torture Nathan forced me to inflict on Malcolm are correct, proof being the scars Malcolm showed you earlier. Everything about the standoff when the team arrived and how Nathan was stabbed is also true." She hesitated before continuing. "The other portions of the report… aren't completely accurate."

DeMarco clarified, "Nathan didn't rape you."

"No."

"Malcolm did." DeMarco wasn't looking at Dani as he said it. He was glaring at Malcolm, who huffed and shook his head angrily at the detective's incessant need to assume he knew what the hell happened.

Dani responded to the accusation, "It's more complicated than that."

"Please explain."

"We knew Nathan's M.O. going in," Dani said. "We knew he made the females torture their male lovers and then he would rape the women in front of the men who loved them. Nathan knew who we were when he captured us. We weren't sure if the fact that Malcolm and I didn't have that type of relationship would change his behaviors. After he made me burn Malcolm, it was clear that Nathan intended to follow his typical M.O."

"How so?" Both of the detectives were furiously scribbling notes on their pads.

Dani took a breath. She absent-mindedly began picking at her fingernails. "He approached me, started touching me."

Gil stopped his pacing and was listening intently.

"I smacked his hand away and he hit me. Then he pulled me by the ankles and I hit my head on the concrete. By the time I shook it off, he already had my pants off."

Messer and DeMarco continued hastily writing down the details. Malcolm was staring unfocused at the table top.

Dani continued, "Malcolm begged Nathan to hurt him instead of me." She glanced at him, but Malcolm didn't look up. "So, Nathan left me and went to him. He said something to Malcolm and then stood up and talked about having possibilities or something I don't remember."

DeMarco interrupted, his focus on Malcolm. "What did he say to you?"

Malcolm lifted his head and looked at the detective for a moment, then Dani, then back at the table.

"Malcolm, what did Nathan say to you when you asked him to hurt you instead?"

Malcolm swallowed and slowly licked his lips before answering. "He said 'You care about her'."

Dani's eyes widened as she turned her head toward her partner. He refused to meet her eye contact. DeMarco raised his eyebrows and looked back and forth at the two of them for a moment before prompting Malcolm. "That's what had possibilities?"

Malcolm nodded his head. "Then he agreed not to touch Dani."

"Really?" Messer couldn't hide his shock.

"Really... As long as I did."

Gil huffed an angry exhale.

"And you agreed." DeMarco wasn't asking. He was clarifying what he thought the correct answer was.

"I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to do. So, I just sat there petrified. I couldn't do that to Dani, hurt her like that."

"What changed your mind?"

"I did," Dani answered.

"You did?" the detective was clearly confused.

"I knew what Nathan wanted. One way or another it was going to happen. I just couldn't stand the thought of it being him. If it was Malcolm…" She couldn't think of the right words to complete the sentence, so she left it hanging and then resumed. "So, I begged Malcolm to agree."

"And he did."

Both Dani and Malcolm nodded their heads in unison.

"Then what?" Messer asked.

Malcolm shifted only his eyes to the detective, irked, "You really need all the details?"

"I know this is unpleasant for both of you, but yes, we do," he responded.

"Unpleasant?" Malcolm turned his head, aligning his eyes with the front of his face. His volume increased with each word. "No. A hangnail is _unpleasant_! This is-"

"Bright." Gil's calm voice brought the profiler back from the edge of a meltdown. Malcolm looked up at his mentor. Gil had never seen eyes with such anguish behind them.

Dani responded to the detective's question. "Then Nathan unchained Malcolm and brought him to my side of the room." DeMarco lifted his hand in question, and Dani paused.

"Malcolm, you were still able to… perform? Despite the horrific situation?"

Dani glared at DeMarco. Malcolm was clenching and unclenching his fists, while staring a hole into the table.

"Really?" Gil was getting tired of the detective's accusatory tone.

"It's a valid question. Most people, wouldn't exactly be able to get it up if they knew they were being forced to rape their friend."

"You know what? Fuck you!" Malcolm snapped.

"Oh, fuck me, huh?" DeMarco countered, as he started to stand.

"Enough!" Gil commanded. "Let's just try to get through this as quickly and _respectfully _as we can."

DeMarco returned to his seat and Dani took the opportunity to continue, "No, detective. He couldn't. And Nathan was getting impatient and threatened to trade Malcolm places if he didn't get things going. So I tried to help him; I told him to kiss me. After a few minutes of that, things progressed and we…" Dani wasn't exactly sure how to label what it was they did. "Nathan watched, pleasuring himself the entire time. Malcolm was very gentle. He did everything he could not to hurt me."

"If that's the case, where did the bruises come from?" DeMarco challenged.

Malcolm continued to stare at the table. His legs were bouncing beneath it, trying to expel the anger surging through his system. He didn't consider himself a violent person by nature, but this might be the thing to drive him to it.

Dani responded to the question, "Nathan was unhappy with Malcolm's… technique. He threatened him into being more rough with me."

"How so?"

Malcolm answered this time. His voice was firm, but his entire body was shaking, "His exact words were 'make her feel you there this time tomorrow, or I'll slit her throat while you're still inside her'."

Gil stared at Malcolm, completely stunned. DeMarco and Messer too, were sitting silently, their mouths slightly open in shock.

Malcolm continued, unprompted. "So, yes. I did as Nathan wanted, because I didn't want my best friend's throat slit right there in front of me. And, yes. It has completely fucked me up that I had to put myself in a state of mind to actually feel pleasure while I was doing that to her. But if I didn't, then Nathan was going to take my place, or worse, kill Dani."

Dani was staring at Malcolm. He felt it; he could see it out of the corner of his eye. He just couldn't bear to look at her. Gil was still standing behind the detectives. One of his hands was fisted in front of his mouth, the thumb under his chin. He wasn't prepared for anything Malcolm had just said. After a short pause, DeMarco opened his mouth as though he was going to say something to Malcolm. Instead he resumed taking notes.

"Once you finished. What happened?" Messer asked.

"I got up and Nathan re chained me." Malcolm wasn't interested in divulging any more details.

"Was this the only time Nathan forced the two of you to be intimate?"

_Damn it._ Malcolm had been silently praying they wouldn't ask that question. He elected to let Dani choose how to answer.

She lowered her head and responded truthfully, "No."

Gil ran his hands through his hair, all of this was just unthinkable.

"How many other times were there?" Messer didn't look up as he wrote more notes.

"Just one," Dani replied.

"Was the second encounter similar in nature to the first?"

"No."

Malcolm glanced at Dani then at Gil. He was surprised that he felt almost equally uncomfortable for his mentor to hear about this time with Dani. It was on the complete opposite side of the spectrum and felt oddly private, intimate, despite the circumstances in which it happened. In truth, those moments during, when they had both forgotten their surroundings and completely let go, Malcolm couldn't remember when he'd felt happier, more at peace.

"No?" DeMarco was sincerely curious about Dani's answer.

"The second time was after Malcolm's heart stopped and I revived him. Nathan came back in and, as revenge for my shooting him in the leg, was going to shock Malcolm again. I knew his heart wouldn't be able to withstand anymore. So I offered to do anything Nathan wanted, as long as he didn't shock Malcolm again. Malcolm tried to get Nathan to shock him anyway and leave me alone, but he went for my deal. Once Nathan started kissing and touching me, Malcolm agreed, to keep it from being Nathan, again."

"Mr. Bright, why did you refuse at first?"

"I couldn't handle the thought of hurting her again. Once was already too much to endure." He and Dani hadn't made eye contact since the interview had started. Malcolm didn't think he could control himself if he saw any more pain in her eyes. He'd already seen enough of that for several lifetimes.

"Once he agreed Nathan led us to Malcolm's side of the room and chained him. Then went back to the table to watch. I knew the pain Malcolm must have been feeling so I made a deal with him."

"Which was?" DeMarco inquired.

"Neither of us could take any more guilt or shame, it was already crushing us both. So I whispered to Malcolm that Nathan didn't get to win this time, that we deserved a moment's peace. I told him that this time there would be no shame, or guilt. We were just going to go with it and feel whatever we felt with no repercussions."

"And you both agreed?"

Again, Malcolm and Dani nodded.

"Afterward Nathan was angry because he couldn't fully enjoy watching us the second time. He said consent wasn't his 'thing' and we were-" Dani stopped, realizing that the rest of the quote from Nathan revealed a bit more than she had intended about the second time with Malcolm. But it was too late.

"You were what?" Messer prompted.

"We were 'enjoying the hell out of each other'."

Gil watched his team members as they studiously refused to look at each other. In a strange way he was proud of them both for their act of defiance toward Nathan.

"That's when Nathan returned and strapped Malcolm to the table. You know what happened after that," Dani concluded.

Everyone in the room was quiet as the two detectives finished jotting down their notes. Gil broke the silence, "Are we through here?"

DeMarco responded, "I have just one more thing. Detective Powell, would you classify your first encounter with Mr. Bright as rape?"

Malcolm looked up at the detective, taken aback. _He's still trying to put me away for this._

"Yes." Dani replied.

Malcolm turned his head in her direction, utterly stunned. The only thing he could hear was his heartbeat pounding in his head. DeMarco was again, hastily scribbling notes.

"For both of us," Dani continued.

"Sorry?" the detective seemed just as confused as Malcolm was.

"Malcolm was no more a willing participant than I was, detective. He agreed because I begged him to. But that doesn't mean he was in any way willing. So, yes, I would classify the first encounter as rape, for both of us."

Malcolm closed his eyes and exhaled the breath he didn't know he was holding.

"And the second time?" DeMarco added. "Would you classify that as rape?"

Dani shook her head, "No."

"You would classify that as consentual sex?"

Dani thought for a moment before answering, her skin flushed ever so slightly. Malcolm wondered if the detectives noticed. "Consentual sex, while under durress," she replied.

DeMarco focused on Malcolm. "Do you agree with that classification?"

"Yes," Malcolm nodded.

"Okay," DeMarco flipped through the notes he had taken, checking for anything he might have missed. "I think we're finished."

Malcolm looked eagerly at the detective, awaiting his verdict.

"Despite the blatant falsification of a police report- why, by the way?"

Dani took a breath "I couldn't spend my entire career, hell my entire outside life, being looked at that way."

"Ah. Well, based on everything we've heard, I don't see cause for any charges to be filed." He turned to Dani, "Especially if you don't intend to press any."

"I don't," Dani replied.

DeMarco nodded. He leaned over the table and released Malcolm's wrists from the handcuffs. "You're both free to go." The men collected their notes and turned toward the door.

"Hold on." Gil walked up to the side of the table. "Given that no charges are being filed, I'd appreciate it if what was said in this room stays here." He gestured toward Dani and Malcolm, "They've been through enough. They don't need furtive whispers and side eye everywhere they go."

DeMarco nodded his head, "Agreed."

"Can we have a moment?" Gil requested.

"Sure." Messer and DeMarco exited the room, leaving Gil alone with Dani and Malcolm.

Gil sat down opposite the two of them. He laced his fingers in his hands on the table and thought for a moment. "I have to be honest, I'm not really sure what to say."

The three of them sat in silence for a few minutes. Dani was the first to speak. Her comment was directed to no one in particular, "I still don't understand why they ran the kit." She looked at Malcolm for answers, but he shook his head, equally confused. "I mean, there was no reason to, with Nathan dead."

"I told them to," Gil confessed. Dani and Malcolm stared at him in disbelief. Gil rubbed his hands together and collected his thoughts before continuing. "When I walked into that hospital room, after Malcolm had woken up, it was obvious that something more was wrong. The way the two of you were interacting, I knew there was something you weren't telling me. And I was worried about you both. I wanted to help you. So, I told the investigators to run everything they had, leave no stone unturned. I had no idea that your secret was… this."

Neither Dani nor Malcolm responded. There wasn't really a need to.

Gil straightened up in his chair, "So, I'm just going to straight up ask. Do the two of you want to continue working together? Can you, after everything that's happened?"

Malcolm picked at his fingertips. He couldn't imagine life without his work, without the team and family he had come to know and love. But he refused to answer first. Whatever Dani wanted is what mattered. If she couldn't handle it, he would step down and walk away. Waiting for her to respond was agony. He was so nauseous he could taste bile in the back of his mouth.

Dani finally responded, "I can't imagine him _not _being there." She turned and looked at Malcolm, their eyes meeting for the first time since the interview started, and half smiled. Malcolm returned the gesture. It took everything he had not to break down in relief.

"Bright. I'm assuming you want to continue working with us?" Gil asked, a tiny smirk on his face.

"Very much so," Malcolm replied.

"Good. However, I have a few conditions," Gil began. Dani and Malcolm sat at attention. "Two more weeks mandatory leave-"

Dani was first to object "Come on Gil, I've already been off for three, Malcolm for four. I want to be back at work."

Malcolm jumped in, "Gil, I'm bored out of my mind. I need the distraction of work, otherwise I just sit there thinking about… everything."

Gil considered their protests for a moment. "Fine. No leave." He paused, "But, I think the two of you should attend joint therapy sessions. Let a professional guide you through everything that's happened. Work through it, together."

Malcolm glanced at Dani. She raised her eyebrows in question, and he nodded his head in agreement.

"Okay." Gil stood and pushed in his chair. "Ready?" When neither of them responded Gil took the hint, "I'll meet you guys in the lobby."

Malcolm watched as Gil exited the room, leaving the door slightly cracked. Then he slowly tracked his gaze back to Dani. Once their eyes met Malcolm saw the tears begin to well up in hers. When they spilled over, he felt the familiar sting at the back of his throat, as his own tears fell. They sat this way, staring into each other's eyes, all the emotion of their captivity, the month following, and the day's revelations pouring out.

When they both stopped, Malcolm reached up to brush the glistening trail from Dani's cheek. She put her hand around his neck in response. They leaned in, closed their eyes, and rested their foreheads together, each of them taking a slow, cleansing breath.

After they opened their eyes again, Dani gently squeezed the back of Malcolm's neck. "Let's go," she whispered. They got up, pushed the chairs in, and started walking.

Maclolm turned and grabbed the handle on the door, took one last look around the room, and closed it behind him.


End file.
